LIBRARY  OF 

ARCHITECTURE  AND 

ALLIED  ARTS 


Gift  of 

The  Heirs 
of 

R.   Germain  Hubby, 


Interior  Painting 


A  Series  of  Practical  Treatises  on 

MATERIAL;  TOOLS  AND  APPLIANCES  USED; 
STENCIL  CUTTING;  POUNCES  IN  INTERIOR 
PAINTING;  PAINTING  WOODWORK;  HOW  TO 
PAINT  FLAT  COATS;  ENAMELLING;  PAINTING 
PLASTERED  WALLS  IN  OIL;  FLOOR  PAINTING; 
VARNISHING  AND  WAXING;  FINISHING  FLOORS; 
PAINTING  PLASTERED  WALLS  IN  WATER 
COLORS;  CALCIMINING;  REPAINTING  OLD 
WALLS  IN  WATER  COLORS;  DECORATING  IN  OIL 
OR  WATER  COLORS;  LINING  AND  STENCILING; 
POUNCES  AND  PAINTING  POUNCED  WORK. 


Each  Treatise  is  followed  with  Test  Questions 
:         :          :         for  the  Student         :         :         : 

By  F.  MAIRE 

Author  of  "Modern  Painter's  Cyclopedia"  and 
"Exterior  Painting" 

ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO 

Frederick  J.   Drake  &  Company 

PUBLISHERS 


Art 

Library 

TT 


RIO 


COPYEIGHT  1910 
BY 

FEEDEEICK  J.  DEAKE  &  Co. 


Interior  Painting 

PREFACE 

This,  the  second  manual  of  the  Bed 
Book  Series  takes  up  the  course  of  paint- 
ing nearly  where  the  first  one  ended,  and 
much  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  first  is 
applicable  in  many  instances  to  INTERIOR 
PAINTING.  To  save  repetitions  the  same 
system  of  paragraphing  the  subject  matter 
has  been  adopted  and  reference  will  be 
made  throughout  the  text  to  such  by  num- 
ber to  save  space  and  the  needless  saying 
the  same  thing  over  and  over. 

While  INTERIOR  PAINTING  will  be  re- 
viewed in  all  its  phases,  there  are  some 
parts  of  it  which,  while  being  portions  of 
the  painted  work  in  interior  painting  of 
buildings  which  really  can  be  and  are 
17 


18  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

classed  as  separate  trades  and  as  each 
would  require  fully  as  much  space  in  their 
handling  as  will  be  devoted  to  this  manual, 
they  will  each  appear  under  their  proper 
heading,  and  each  will  be  devoted  specially 
to  such  branches  as  graining,  marbling, 
wood  finishing,  etc.  Decoration  too,  prop- 
erly speaking  is  much  too  big  a  subject  to 
be  handled  as  a  side  issue  in  a  book  treating 
of  the  interior  painting  in  a  general  man- 
ner and  it  too  will  be  divided  up  into  sub- 
divisions which  will  facilitate  its  study, 
rendering  it  more  thorough  and  easy. 

F.  MAIRE. 


LESSON  1 

1.  It  seems  just  and  right  that  previous 
to  entering  upon  the  study  of  any  subject 
that  in  order  to  understand  it  well,  one 
should  know  what  its  main  features  are 
and  that  he  should  have  a  sketch  or  a  syn- 
opsis   given   him   of    "how    it    is    to    be 
treated. "    This  is  the  principal  object  of 
this  lesson,  and  the  subsequent  paragraphs 
indicate  what  will  be  more  fully  given  in 
the  lessons  which  follow  it. 

2.  As  to  Interior  painting  it  is  pur- 
posed to  be  followed  up  from  the  founda- 
tion.   This  in  many  respects  will  be  found 
similar  to  that  which  has  been  related  in 
Vol.  I  of  the  red  series  manual— yet  is  not 
so  nearly  the  same  that  the  student  can  be 
referred  to  it  for  full  explanations.     The 
material  used  on  interior  work  comprises 
all  that  is  described  under  that  section  of 
Vol.  I,  as  well  as  most  of  the  tools  and  ap- 

19 


20  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

pliances  there  considered,  but  in  addition 
very  many  others,  so  as  many  may  not  care 
to  purchase  it,  the  material  as  well  as  tools 
and  appliances  will  be  gone  over  in  full, 
only  tools,  etc.,  which  may  have  had  a  full 
description  given  in  Vol  I  will  receive  but 
a  passing  notice  in  this  manual,  reserving 
the  fuller  ones  for  those  which  properly 
belong  to  interior  painting. 

3.  The  manner  of  preparing  the  w'alls, 
etc.,  in  order  to  fit  them  for  the  applica- 
tion of  paint  and  decorations  either  in  oil 
or  water  colors,  is  an  all  important  division 
of  the  subject,  so  it  will  receive  full  atten- 
tion in  all  its  details. 

4.  How  to  handle  the  various  devices  in 
use  for  getting  at  the  surface  of  walls  is 
another  very  important  preliminary  step  in 
enabling  a  workman  to   do   the  interior 
painting  in  the  best  and  quickest  manner 
This  will  also  be  fully  described. 

5.  The  application  of  calcimine  and  all 
water  color  paint,  including  the  blending 


INTERIOB  PAINTING  21 

of  colors,  will  next  be  taken  up,  giving 
directions  upon  the  various  stages  occur- 
ring—commencing at  the  beginning  and 
gradually  bringing  up  the  subject  to  com- 
pletion for  the  final  decorative  work  proper 
and  of  so  much  of  this  as  is  possible  with 
space  at  command. 

6.  The  application  of  oil  colors  to  the 
walls  and  the  various  manners  in  which  this 
kind    of    interior   work   is    usually    done 
bringing   it   too   through   all  its   various 
stages   up   to    finishing   the   walls    ready 
to  receive  the  decorations  and  of  so  much 
of  the  latter  as  can  be  easily  done  without 
a  special  study  of  the  more  artistic  parts 
of  it  which  will  form  the  subject  matter  of 
another  manual. 

7.  The  painting  of  the  wioodwork  in 
plain  or  parti-colors  and  the  flatting  or 
enameling  of  the  same  or  of  its  preparing 
for  graining  by  coating  it  over  with  the 
ground  coats  will  be  treated  fully  and  sep- 
arately from  the  wall  work  itself. 


22  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

8.  The   new    fad    of    glazing    will    be 
handled  in  Vol.  IV,  entitled  graining  and 
marbling. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  I 

1.  This  paragraph  deals  in  generalities. 

2.  So  does  this  and  the  following  ones 
3,  4,  5,  6,  7  and  8.     The  student  need  not 
memorize  them,  this  lesson  being  intended 
to  show  him  the  division  of  the  subject 
matter  into  sections. 

LESSON  n 

THE  SHOP 

9.  This  has  been  described  pretty  thor- 
oughly in  Vol.  I.    But  it  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  painters  who  do  interior  work 
and  decorating  do  but  little,  if  any,  exterior 
work  and  again  that  those  who  do  exterior 
work  do  but  little  other  than  plain  interior 
work.    In  the  description  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  paint  shop  in  that  manual, 
there  was  no  thought  given  to  the  needs  of 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  23 

the  decorator  and  while  in  the  main  all 
that  was  said  there  regarding  its  location 
and  arrangement  could  be  repeated  here 
again,  its  location  in  basements  must  not 
be  thought  of. 

10.  Light  and  dryness  should  be  con- 
sidered first  of  all,  as  it  must  be  used  for 
the  sketching  out  of  designs,  pounces  or 
stencils,  the   trying  of  tints   and   shades 
where  plenty  of  light  should  be  had. 

11.  A  good  long  table  upon  which  to 
lay  out  drawings,   etc.,  and  upon  which 
good  direct  light  should  fall,    should    be 
added  to  the  equipment  of  every  shop  ca- 
tering to  interior  decorations.     Its  pro- 
portions should  not  be  stinted,  for  much 
valuable  time  will  be  saved  where  there  is 
plenty  of  room  to  spread  out  sketches  and 
designs  in  full  view.     The  table  should  be 
no  less  than  three  feet  wide  and  six  to  eight 
feet  long.    It  should  be  either  perfectly 
flat  or  with  a  slight  slant  although  this  is 
not  so  necessary  as  in  drafting  with  math- 


24  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

ematical  instruments.  It  should  be  solidly 
fixed  as  a  wobbling  work  table  is  an  abom- 
ination and  a  constant  source  of  irritation 
likely  to  render  one  nervous  and  unfit  him 
for  good  work. 

12.  A  good  gas  stove,  or  where  gas  is 
not  procurable  a  gasoline  or  kerosene  oil 
stove,  or  what  is  better  and  safer,  an  elec- 
trical heater  are  too  often  needed  for  inte- 
rior work  to  be  dispensed  with  unless  the 
shop  is  so  situated  that  access  to  heating 
conveniences  can  be  had  without  too  great 
a  waste  of  time  in  getting  at  them  in  which 
case  there  would  be  no  saving,  but  a  loss. 
The  stove  will  be  needed  every  day  for 
melting  glue,  preparing  water  color  tints, 
making  paste  from  flour  or  the  prepared 
dry  pastes  for  paper  hanging  and  the  one 
thousand  and  one  uses  for  hot  water  which 
come  up  at  all  times  and  which  cause  a  big 
loss  of  time  in  the  procuring  otherwise. 

13.  There  should  be  a  number  of  draw- 
ers in  the  equipment  of  a  shop  carrying  on 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  25 

interior  painting.  While  but  few  are 
really  needed  in  an  ordinary  shop  doing  ex- 
terior painting  only,  the  decorator  has  use 
for  a  great  deal  more  coloring  matter  in  a 
dry  form  and  each  one  should  have  a 
drawer  plainly  labeled  with  the  name  of 
the  pigment  they  contain.  These  drawv- 
ers  will  keep  the  dry  colors  clean  and  will 
prevent  their  being  mixed  up  and  being 
spilled  over  the  floor  and  shelving  so  that 
the  ordinary  slovenly  and  dirty  appear- 
ance of  the  premises  which  is  the  usual  ap- 
pearance of  the  shops  using  dry  colors  di- 
rect from  the  paper  bags  containing  them, 
will  enhance  the  one  well  equipped  and 
clean,  in  the  estimation  of  the  customer  at 
once  and  the  price  for  the  job  will  not  be 
questioned  nearly  so  quickly  as  it  would 
be  were  the  appearances  against  instead  of 
favoring  the  up-to-date  shop  style. 

14.  While  sinks  or  some  suitable  place 
to  clean  up  pots,  vessels,  etc.,  are  needed 
in  all  paint  shops,  the  shop  of  the  decora- 


26  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

tor,  no  matter  how  good  and  handy  every- 
thing else  may  be,  would  soon  be  dirty 
enough  if  pails  and  all  other  vessels  used 
in  preparing  and  using  water  colors  are 
not  cleaned  up  and  put  up  in  their  proper 
places,  cleaned,  and  kept  there,  as  quickly 
as  one  is  through  with  them.  The  same 
can  be  said  of  brushes  used  in  water  col- 
ors. They  soon  get  out  of  shape  and  good 
working  order  unless  well  washed  out 
after  using.  For  the  rest  of  the  necessary 
equipment  of  the  shop  the  student  is  re- 
ferred to  Vol.  1  or  Exterior  Painting. 
Much  more  could  be  added  to  it,  but  it  is 
thought  best  not  to  burden  the  list  unneces- 
sarily as  many  or  most  of  them  while 
handy  are  not  indispensable. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  II 

9.  How  should  the  shop  be  located? 

10.  Why  should  it  be  light! 

11.  What  kind  of  table  should  be  used 
to  sketch  upon? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  27 

12.  What  is  said  about  stoves? 

13.  What  are  the  best  holders  for  dry 
colors? 

14.  What  is  said  regarding  a  place  to 
clean  pots,  etc.? 

LESSON  III 

MATERIAL  USED  IN  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

15.  The  material  used  in  interior  paint- 
ing and  decorating  embraces  every  pig- 
ment known  and  in  the  way  of  binding 
substances,  a  number  possessing  binding 
qualities  which  enables  the  mixing  of  pig- 
ments with  water  holding  these  binding 
substances  in  solution  and  their  applica- 
tion to  walls  with  an  assurance  that  they 
will  not  readily  come  off. 

For  decorating  walls  in  oil  all  the  colors 
mentioned  in  exterior  painting  will  be 
found  useful  and  as  a  full  description  of 
colors  or  pigments  will  follow  this  manual 
in  the  Red  series  as  Vol.  Ill,  the  student 
is  referred  to  that  for  the  proper  expla- 


28  INTEEIOK  PAINTING 

nations,  as  it  would  take  up  all  the  space 
which  will  be  devoted  to  this  manual  to 
give  them  all,  even  a  very  condensed  ex- 
amination. 

16.  For  the  easy  finding  of  material, 
the  same  will  be  divided  into :  pigments  or 
colors;  vehicles  to  spread  them  with;  var- 
nishes, etc.;  accessory  material    used    in 
connection  with  interior  painting,  but  not 
directly  used  as  vehicles  for  pigments. 

17.  Pigments  will  be  grouped  in  seven 
general  divisions  which  cover  the  leading 
and  distinctly  separate  hues.     Many  come 
come  so  very  near  the  border  line  of  other 
divisions  that  in  a  few  instances  it  is  nec- 
essary to  be  arbitrary  in  placing  them  into 
one  rather  than  another,  but  usually  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  giving  them  their  proper 
place. 

18.  The  former  division  of  pigments 
into  seven  general  groups  as  given  in  Vol. 
I  will  be  followed,  to  wit :  The  Whites,  the 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  29 

Blacks,  the  Blues,  the  Browns,  the  Greens, 
the  Eeds,  the  Yellows. 

19.  The  white  pigments  comprise  two 
very  distinct  sections,  the  whites  derived 
from  the  metals  and  the  natural  and  artifi- 
cially made  whites  or  the  white  earths. 

20.  The    principal    white    pigment    of 
metallic  derivation  is  white  lead.    Its  great 
opacity  or  covering  property  enables  the 
painter  to  obtain  an  even  solid  looking  sur- 
face over  anything  he  is  called  upon  to 
paint.     As  a  base  for  the  mixing    of    all 
light  tints  it  has  no  equal— at  least  in  oil 
painting  either  flat  or  glossy.     More  will 
be  said  regarding  it  when  the  mixing  of 
tints  will  be  reached  in  this  manual. 

21.  Zinc  white,    the    only  other  white 
pigment  of  a  metallic  origin  which  is  use- 
ful to  painters  and  decorators  in  the  mix- 
ing of  tints  in  oil  for  interior  work,  is  a 
very  good  pigment  for  all  such  wtork,  not 
only  when  ground  in  oil  or  varnish  but  also 


30  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

in  the  mixing  of  water  colors  in  a  dry 
state;  but  more  will  be  said  regarding  its 
use,  in  the  proper  places  when  considering 
the  several  kinds  of  interior  finishes. 

22.  The  earth  whites,  which  are  chiefly 
useful  as  pigments  in  water  color  work, 
may  be  divided  up  into  three  classes,  ac- 
cording to  the  principal  component  of  its 
base.  When  clay  predominates,  they  are 
called  aluminous ;  when  this  consists  chiefly 
of  silica,  they  are  known  as  silicious;  and 
those  where  lime  holds  the  preponderance, 
are  called  calcareous  and  cretaceous.  This 
is  a  somewhat  arbitrary  distinction  as  in 
many  instances  there  is  a  great  variation 
in  the  component  parts  of  the  earth  whites 
and  the  base  is  sometimes  found  to  be  so 
nearly  evenly  balanced  in  quantity  that  it 
could  be  placed  in  another  class  without 
detriment.  Their  general  character,  how- 
ever, usually  will  be  found  such  as  will 
make  their  proper  classing  correct. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  31 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  III 

15.  General  remarks  concerning  mate- 
rial used  in  interior  painting. 

16.  In  how  many  classes  can  the  mate- 
rial be  divided? 

17.  How  may  pigments  be  grouped? 

18.  Name  the  various  groups  of  pig- 
ments. 

19.  What  is  said  regarding  the  white 
pigments? 

20.  What  use  is  made  of  white  lead? 

21.  What  is  said  of  zinc  white? 

22.  How    may    the    earth    whites    be 
classed? 

LESSON  IV 

MATERIAL,  USED  IN  INTERIOR  PAINTING, 
CONTINUED 

23.  In  the  preceding  paragraph  it  will 
be  seen  that,  owing  to  the  widely  different 
main    components    of    the    earth    wjrites, 
there  must  be  a  great  difference  in  their 
working  qualities.    All  of  them  are  better 


32  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

adapted  to  do  a  certain  class  of  work  than 
are  any  of  the  others.  Space  forbids  go- 
ing into  full  details  concerning  all  the  pe- 
culiarities belonging  to  each,  which,  how- 
ever, will  be  found  by  referring  to  Vol.  Ill ; 
but  the  main  characteristics  of  the  leading 
white  earth  pigments  of  each  class  will  be 
given  in  order  that  the  student  may  under- 
stand why  they  are  used  for  certain  pur- 
poses instead  of  others. 

24.  The  earth  whites  are  all  either 
transparent  or  semi-transparent  when 
mixed  with  linseed  oil.  They  are  good  ab- 
sorbents of  it  and  owing  to  their  transpar- 
ency or  lack  of  opaqueness  the  oil  colors 
them,  imparting  its  yellowness  to  the  ex- 
tent of  causing  these  whites  to  lose  their 
clean  tone  and  muddying  them  so  much 
that  they  are  rendered  useless  for  painting 
in  oil  in  their  self  tone  at  least.  They  are 
sometimes  used  in  the  making  of  com- 
pounds into  which  white  lead  or  zinc  enter 
in  sufficient  quantities  as  to  give  the  com- 


INTERIOE  PAINTING  33 

bination  good  opacity  and  color  and  as  cor- 
rectives of  some  of  the  defects  of  these  two 
metal  whites  they  become  of  good  use  in 
such  compounds.  Most  of  them  are  inert 
in  oil,  but  those  of  a  calcareous  nature  (all 
but  the  sulphate)  do  exert  an  influence 
upon  the  oil  and  cause  it  to  saponify  more 
or  less.  This,  however,  is  not  always  in- 
jurious. 

25.  The  earth  whites,  while  not  being 
ideal  pigments  in  oil,  really  become  so 
when  used  in  distemper  or  water  colors. 
They  show  opaque  when  mixed  with  water 
and  are  used  in  enormous  quantities  in  the 
make-up  of  the  ready  prepared  calcimine 
tints  and  for  the  coloring  of  wall  paper,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  quantities  of  it  used 
and  mixed  up  by  painters  in  preparing 
calcimine  and  all  water  color  painting  of 
whatever  name  it  may  go  by.  The  peculi- 
arities of  the  main  earth  whites  belonging 
to  the  several  divisions  mentioned  in  para- 


34  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

graph  22  will  be  noted  in  the  following 
ones. 

26.  The  aluminous  whites  are  numer- 
ous.    The  better  ones  are  those   having 
been  well  cleaned  and  washed  free  of  for- 
eign admixtures  and  can  be  procured  un- 
der the  name  of  China  Clay  or  Kaolin  in 
many  of  the  better  class  of  supply  stores. 
This  is  the  best  one  of  the  aluminous  divi- 
sion.   It  covers  best  of  any  in  oil  and  is 
inert  nearly  in  that  vehicle.     In  water  col- 
ors it  possesses  also  the  best  body  or  opac- 
ity of  any  one  of  the  earth  whites,  but  its 
working  qualities  are  inferior  to  those  of 
others  which  will  be  noted  below. 

27.  The  silicious  white  earths,  while  not 
possessing  any  body  or  opacity  in  oil,  are 
used  as  correctives  in  connection  with  the 
good  covering  metal  whites  to  good  advan- 
tage.    They  are  seldom  used  alone  in  wa- 
ter color  work,  as  they  are  inferior  in  cov- 
ering and  working  qualities  to  the  creta- 
ceous whites.     The  are  used  as  said  above 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  35 

mainly  as  correctives  in  oil  painting,  as  ad- 
juncts in  the  flatting  coats  done  in  oil  of 
which  more  will  be  said  later. 

28.  The  cretaceous  whites  are  by  far 
the  best  to  use  as  bases  for  the  mixing  of 
water  colors  and  probably  ninety-five  per 
cent  of  all  water  color  painting  contains  it 
as  the  principal  ingredient. 

Whiting  or  carbonate  of  lime  is  the  prin- 
cipal one  and  the  quantities  of  it  that  are 
used  is  something  wonderful.  While  it  is 
very  indifferent  when  mixed  in  oil  on  ac- 
count of  its  transparency,  it  certainly  is 
the  ideal  pigment  when  mixed  with  water. 
It  covers  well  and  smoothly  and  stands 
head  and  shoulders  above  all  the  rest  in 
good  qualities  in  the  estimation  of  the 
trade.  It  works  admirably  well  under  the 
brush,  which  is  a  great  object  in  itself  as  a 
time  saver.  And  if  for  no  other  reason, 
this  would  place  it  at  the  head  of  the  list. 

29.  There  is  another  very  good  white 
earth  pigment  of  this  class  having  entirely 


36  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

different  properties  from  the  above.  It  is 
gypsum,  or  the  sulphate  of  lime.  It  does 
not  cover  nor  work  as  well  under  the 
brush  as  whiting  and  is  never  used  for  the 
mixing  of  water  colors  by  the  painters,  but 
by  proper  compounding  enormous  quanti- 
ties of  it  are  used  by  the  concerns  making 
the  so-called  anti-calcimine  goods,  etc. 
Their  chief  good  qualities  are  as  adjuncts 
with  other  whites  either  in  oil  or  water 
colors  and  as  bases  for  the  preparation  of 
certain  colored  pigments. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  IV 

23.  What  is  said  in  general  of  the  earth 
whites? 

24.  What  are  the  main  characteristics 
of  the  earth  whites  in  oil? 

25.  What  is  said  concerning  their  use 
in  water  color  painting? 

26.  What  are  the  peculiarities  of  the 
aluminous  whites? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  37 

27.  What  is  said  regarding  the  silicious 
whites  f 

28.  Relate  the  properties  of  the  creta- 
"  ceous  whites  and  of  whiting  in  particular. 

29.  What  is  said  concerning  gypsum  or 
the  sulphate  of  lime! 

LESSON  V 

MATERIAL,  USED  IN   INTERIOR  PAINTING 
CONTINUED 

THE  BLACKS 

30.  They  are  nearly  the  same  as  noted 
in  Vol.  I  with  the  addition  of  a  few  others. 
As  all  pigments  will  be  fully  reviewed  in 
Vol.  Ill,    a   mere    nomenclature   is    here 
given,  merely  noting  the  ones  which  are 
chiefly  used  in  water  colors. 

Lamp  Black,  Ivory  Black,  Coach  and 
drop  blacks  are  of  the  same  kind  of  prove- 
nance as  Ivory  Mack,  i.  e.,  bone  charcoal. 
Gas  or  carbon  black— Graphite.  The  above 
blacks  are  all  useful  in  oil  and  most  of 


38  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

them  in  water  colors.  To  the  above  list 
'  must  be  added  for  use  in  water :  Brunswick 
or  Frankfort  black,  also  sold  sometimes 
under  the  name  of  Charcoal  black,  only 
useful  in  distemper  work. 

THE  BLUES 

31.  In  Vol.  I  the  list  of  blues  is  re- 
stricted to  Prussian  Blue  and  Ultramarine, 
which  with  the  exception  of  Cobalt  Blue 
are  the  only  ones  of  much  value  in  out- 
door painting.  To  the  above  must  be 
added  for  interior  painting  Chinese  Blue, 
a  soluble  variation  of  Prussian  Blue,  Ceru- 
leum  and  a  few  decorators  might  miss 
Che&sylite,  while  the  big  majority  would 
not  use  it. 

With  the  various  shades  of  Ultramarine 
to  be  had,  even  the  decorators  can  cut  down 
the  blue  list  to  the  two  mentioned  in  exte- 
rior painting— Prussian  and  Ultramarine 
Blues. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  39 

THE  BROWNS 

32.  These  form  a  useful  group  to  all 
painters  for  either  outside  or  inside  work, 
either  in  oil  or  water  colors. 

Eaw  and  Burnt  Umbers,  Kaw  and  Burnt 
Siennas,  Vandyke  Brown  are  all  very 
transparent  or  semi-transparent  and  are 
useful  in  both  oil  and  water  color  painting. 
The  metallic  browns  so  useful  in  oil  for 
the  rough  painting  of  buildings  are  but 
little  used  in  interior  work,  although  some 
produce  some  very  good  tints  and  could 
be  used  in  their  self  colors  also  to  good  ad- 
vantage. 

THE  GREENS 

33.  The  greens,  it  will  be  noted  in  Vol. 
I,  are  restricted  to  the  Chrome  Greens 
which  suffice  for  the  producing  of  tints  or 
self  coloring   in    exterior  work.    To  this 
must  be  added  for  interior  work  Cobalt 
green  or  green  ultramarine,  Viridian,  the 
green  oxide  of  Chronium,  Paris  green  and 


40  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

the  many  fancy  shades  derived  from  the 
anilines.  The  latter  class  of  greens  are 
very  beautiful  and  but  for  the  fugitive 
character  of  most  of  them  would  be  inval- 
uable to  the  decorator. 

THE  REDS 

34.  The  reds  will  be  found  of  great  use 
for  interior  painting  and  fortunately  the 
group  possesses  a  number  of  excellent  pig- 
ments, stable,  enduring  and  in  a  great  va- 
riety of  tones  and  hues,  all  being  useful 
either  in  oil  or  water  colors.  In  water,  the 
quicksilver  vermilions  do  not  give  good 
results  as  they  will  quickly  turn  black  when 
unprotected  by  varnish.  The  imitation 
vermilions  are  better  for  use  in  water  col- 
ors. Venetian  reds,  Indian  reds,  Tuscan 
reds  and  the  red  ochres  are  all  strong  iron 
based  colors  and  are  useful  for  either  self 
painting  or  the  producing  of  tints.  A 
large  number  of  red  lakes  are  produced 
from  aniline  and  are  more  or  less  fugitives 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  41 

except  the  so-called  madder  lakes  made 
from  alizarine  which  are  very  permanent. 

THE  YELLOWS 

35.  The  yellow  group  is  also  very  rich 
in  the  great  variety  of  tints  or  rather  hues 
that  they  produce.  The  list  given  in  exte- 
rior painting  is  restricted  to  the  Ochres 
and  the  Chrome  yellows.  While  the  inte- 
rior decorator  uses  many  more,  the  vari- 
eties of  the  above  two  are  so  many  that 
nearly  every  tone  of  yellow  can  be  pro- 
duced from  some  of  them.  Dutch  pink,  In- 
dian yellow,  Naples  yellow,  Gamboge, 
Baryta  lemon  yellow,  and  Gamboge  com- 
pose an  additional  list  from  which  to 
choose  and  select  for  some  decorators, 
while  many  would  cut  them  out  entirely. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  V 

30.  What  colors  are  named  in  the  black 
group  f 


42  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

31.  What   is   said  regarding  the  pig- 
ments in  the  blue  group ! 

32.  Name  over  the  useful  pigments  in 
the  brown  group. 

33.  What  are  the  pigments  in  the  green 
group? 

34.  What  is  said  of  the  pigments  com- 
posing the  red  group  ? 

35.  What  is  said   regarding  the  pig- 
ments of  the  yellow  group  T 

LESSON  VI 

MATERIAL  USED  IN  INTERIOR  PAINTING 
CONTINUED 

THINNERS    OR    VEHICLES    AND    BINDING    SUB- 
STANCES 

36.  The  thinners  used  in  interior  paint- 
ing are  distinct  from  the  only  ones  that  are 
of  importance    in    exterior  painting,  the 
fixed  oil,  for  a  fuller  description  of  which 
the  student  is  referred    to    Vol.    III.     A 
greater  use  is  made  of  the  volatile  oils  as 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  43 

in  flatting,  for  instance,  and  for  water 
color  work  the  thinner  is  as  the  name  indi- 
cates—water. But  water,  while  it  enables 
the  thinning  and  application  of  colors,  does 
not  bind  them  on  and  some  material  must 
be  added  to  it  that  will  impart  to  it  the 
binding  properties  that  are  lacking. 

37.  Linseed  oil  is  the  best  fixed  oil  for 
painting  inside  or  outside    of    all    these. 
Poppy-seed  oil  is  used  with  zinc  white  for 
some  specific  purposes  of  which  more  will 
be  said  later. 

The  volatile  oil  mostly  used  is  turpen- 
tine, and  rightly  so,  as  the  smell  of  the  vol- 
atile oils  of  petroleum  extraction  is  much 
against  their  use  in  interior  painting. 
Deodorised  benzine  and  naphtha  are  some- 
times substituted  for  it  and  for  many  pur- 
poses are  just  about  as  good. 

38.  The  binding  material  chiefly  used 
to  mix  with  water  colors  is  such  as  is  solu- 
ble in  water  as  some  of  the  vegetable  gums 
are,  as  gum  arabic,  an  excellent  binder, 


44  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

but  too  costly  and  difficult  to  handle  in  the 
painting  of  large  surfaces,  but  still  used 
for  the  painting  of  some  small  work  by  a 
few  decorators ;  gum  tragacanth,  which  is 
used  only  for  specific  work  and  for  most 
situations  very  inferior  to  gum  arabic. 

There  are  a  number  of  others  that  are 
sometimes  used  in  the  binding  of  water 
colors.  They  are  makeshifts  at  best  and 
much  inferior  to  gum  arabic.  Among  them 
are  flour  paste,  the  prepared  dry  pastes, 
dextrin  and  starch. 

40.  The  binding  material  of  animal  ex- 
traction is  by  far  the  most  used  of  any. 
This  is  probably  not  so  much  because  of 
their  superior  qualities  as  that  they  are 
so  much  cheaper,  and  gum  arabic  being  the 
only  one  among  those  of  vegetable  origin 
which  can  make  any  claim  of  superiority 
over  good  glue  and  isinglass— should  the 
demand  increase  greatly  over  what  it  is 
now— the  supply  could  not  keep  up  and  the 
price  would  soon  advance  beyond  the  reach 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  45 

of  any  but  for  the  users  of  water  colors  in 
artistic  work. 

Glues  and  isinglass  have  very  good  bind- 
ing qualities  when  well  made.  They  are 
easily  dissolved,  too,  being  readily  han- 
dled, being  superior  in  this  respect  to  gum 
arable.  The  one  drawback  is  that  in  hot 
weather  colors  prepared  with  them  soon 
putrefy;  but  this  can  be  guarded  against 
by  only  mixing  so  much  as  can  be  used  up 
clean  during  the  day.  With  refrigerators 
into  which  vessels  containing  it  can  be 
placed  until  wanted  (within  a  reasonable 
time)  will  keep  it  in  good  shape  for  several 
days. 

41.  Water  and  other  putty  for  floor 
work,  filling  up  cracks  in  floor  joints  and 
knot  holes  and  many  other  so-called  ' '  crack 
fillers "  is  a  rather  recent  addition  to  the 
list  of  ready  prepared  goods  on  the  market. 
Some  are  so  good  and  so  much  superior  to 
any  of  the  home-made  makeshifts,  and  be- 
ing so  cheap  at  the  same  time,  that  they 


46  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

are  and  eventually  will  displace  the  home 
prepared  article. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  VI 

36.  What  is  said  in  a  general  way  con- 
cerning vehicles  for  interior  painting? 

37.  What  are  the  fixed  and  volatile  oils 
which  are  mostly  being  used? 

38.  What  binding  material  of  vegetable 
origin  can  be  used  in  water  colors? 

39.  What  binding  material  of  animal 
extraction  is  chiefly  used  in  the  binding  of 
water  colors? 

40.  What  is  said  of  the  properties  of 
glue  and  isinglass? 

41.  What  is  said  of  water  putty  for  the 
filling  of  cracks,  joints,  etc.? 

LESSON  VII 

MATERIAL   USED   IN   INTERIOR  PAINTING 
CONTINUED 

42.  As  nearly  everything  that  is  cata- 
logued by  painters'   and   artists'   supply 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  47 

houses  is  used  at  times  by  some  decorat- 
ors and  painters  in  "interior  work,"  the 
mere  enumeration  of  it  would  be  quite  an 
undertaking  of  itself.  The  more  useful 
and  those  of  which  considerable  quantities 
are  required,  will  be  examined  only. 

43.  Gold  and  other  metal  leaves,  such 
as    aluminum,    silver,    Dutch   metal,    etc., 
which  are  all  used  for  such  work  as  comes 
under  the  name  of  gilding,  i.  e.,  for  appli- 
cation over  a  size  to  surfaces. 

All  the  metal  leaves  come  packed  in 
books  between  the  leaves  of  which  a  single 
leaf  of  the  metal  is  placed  either  loose,  as 
is  the  case  for  most  of  them,  or  held  by  a 
loose  leaf  of  paper  as  in  the  so-called  "pat- 
ent gold  leaf." 

44.  Bronzes,    metallics,     flitters,    bro- 
cades, etc.,  can  all  be  bracketed  together. 
They  are  very  useful  in  decoration  and  for 
many  kinds  of  work  indispensable.     They 
come  in  innumerable  shades  and  qualities, 
some  being  very  carefully  made  and  excel- 


48  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

lent,  while  others  are  coarse,  poorly  col- 
ored and  tarnish  quickly. 

45.  There  are  a  number  of  other  pow- 
dered substances  that  are  not  of  metallic 
derivation,  that  are  useful  to  the  decorator 
and  which  he  uses  in  a  manner  similar  to 
the  bronzes  with  and  over  a  sizing. 

Mica  powdered,  powdered  glass  flakes 
usually  known  as  frosting,  finely  powdered 
pearl  flakings  and  also  the  larger  flakes  of 
pearl  and  a  great  number  of  others  which 
are  but  seldom  used  however.  In  fact, 
there  is  scarcely  any  substance  in  nature 
that  cannot  be  used  in  its  proper  place  in 
decorating  interiors. 

46.  Drafting   paper   to    draw    designs 
upon,  some  Bristol  boards  to  make  colored 
sketches^  some  good  and  well  sized  stencil 
paper  to  cut  stencils  from  will  be  required. 
While  the  first  two  can  be  gotten  along 
without  by  substituting  something  that  will 
takejkheir  place,  the  last  is  nearly  indis- 
pensable, as  it  is  much  more  difficult  to 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  49 

substitute  anything  else  that  will  not  re- 
quire many  times  more  trouble  and  work 
to  take  its  place. 

47.  Charcoal  and  other  colored  chalk 
crayons,  while  not  absolutely  indispensa- 
ble, will  be  found  very  useful. 

Gold  fat  oil  size,  bronzing  liquids  to  be 
used  in  applying  bronzes  and  other  pow- 
dered material.  The  rest  of  the  material 
can  all  be  included  in  a  large  sized  et 
cetera  and,  as  said  before,  may  consist  of 
almost  anything  susceptible  of  beautifying 
the  interior. 

To  the  above  ought  to  be  added  all  the 
material  required  in  hardwood  finishing 
which  is  a  part  of  the  interior  work,  but  as 
this  will  be  made  the  subject  matter  of  a 
separate  manual  and  as  graining  and  mar- 
bling will  form  another,  the  two  are  omit- 
ted and  will  be  treated  as  separate 
branches  of  the  trade  which  they  are  in 
fact. 


50  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  VII 

42.  What  is  said  regarding  the  mate- 
rial used  in  interior  painting? 

43.  Relate  what  is   said  of  gold  and 
other  metal  leaves. 

44.  Relate    what    is     said     regarding 
bronzes,  metallics,  etc. 

45.  Name  over    some    of    the    leading 
powdered  substances  used  in  decorating. 

46.  What  is  said  about  drafting,  sten- 
cilling and  other  paper  stock? 

47.  What  other  material  is  used  in  in- 
terior painting  and  decorating? 

LESSON  VIII 

TOOLS     AND     APPLIANCES     USED     IN     INTERIOR 
PAINTING   AND   DECORATING 

48.  The  tools  and  appliances  used  in  in- 
terior painting,  many  of  them,  were  de- 
scribed and  illustrated  in  Vol.  I,  "Exterior 
Painting."     Some    special    ones    are    re- 
quired for  interior  work  which  are  never 
used  in  exterior  work  or,  at  least,  only  by; 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  51 

decorators ;  such  will  receive  fuller  expla- 
nations and  illustrations  as  far  as  practi- 
cable than  the  others,  and  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Vol.  I  for  illustrations  of  most 
of  these  tools  and  appliances. 

49.  As  in  exterior  painting,  the  brushes 
were  considered  of  most  importance  in  the 
matter  of  tools,  so  in  interior  work  they 
are  of  prime  consequence  and  well  deserve 
first  place  in  the  order  and  task  of  exam- 
ination. 

50.  A  much  greater  variety  of  brushes 
are  required  in  interior  painting  and  dec- 
orating than  for  exterior  painting,  as  wa- 
ter colors  require  a  somewhat  differently 
devised  brush  for  their  application  than 
oil  colors  do  and  those  used  in  decoration 
have  not  only  different  forms  but  in  many 
instances  they  should  be  made  from  differ- 
ent material.     The  brushes  which  are  sim- 

\  ilar  to  those  used  in  exterior  work,  will  not 
be  illustrated  when  there  is  a  correspond- 
ing illustration  of  the  same  in  Vol.  I.  In 


52  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

such  instances  reference  will  be  made  to 
them  by  their  figure  number. 

For  ease  in  understanding  the  subject 
matter,  the  brushes  will  be  divided  into 
two  categories :  those  which  are  used  in  oil 
colors  mainly,  and  which  are  therefore 
nearly  the  same  as  described  in  exterior 
painting,  and  those  which  are  chiefly  tise- 
f ul  in  water  colors,  although  some  of  them 
are  used  in  oil  by  decorators,  but  are  not 
described  in  Vol.  I. 

51.  The  bristle  brushes  used  in  oil 
painting  consist  of  flat  wall  brushes  (see 
Viol.  I,  figs.  3  and  4),  round  and  oval 
brushes  (see  Vol.  I,  fig.  5)  round,  oval  and 
flat  sash  tools  (see  Vol.  I,  figs.  8  and  9), 
round  and  flat  artists'  fitches  (see  Vol.  1, 
fig.  21),  oval  varnish  brushes  (fig.  1),  a 
good  brush  to  use,  not  only  for  varnishing 
but  for  painting  woodwork  when  well 
broken  in.  The  weighted  floor  wax  brush  is 
not  used  for  the  application  of  either  oil  or 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  53 

IIIIHII 


54 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


water  colors  but  for  the  polishing  of  waxed 
floors  (fig.  2). 

The  artists'  flat  and  round  bristle 
brushes  are  really  as  useful  in  oil  as  in  wa- 
ter colors.  They  are  well  shown  up  in  fig.  3. 

The  flat  and  round  dusters  (see  Vol.  I, 


FIG  2. 

fig.  52).  The  brushes  which  are  princi- 
pally useful  in  water  colors,  commencing 
from  the  larger  downward  to  the  smaller, 
are  the  calcimine  brushes  (see  fig.  4). 

To  the  artists'  flat  and  round  bristle 
brushes  should  be  added  the  angular  ones, 
shown  in  fig.  5. 


INTEKIOB  PAINTING 


55 


FIG.  3. 


56 


INTERIOR  PAIXTIXG 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


57 


There  are  several  other  varieties  of 
brushes  built  somewhat  in  the  same  fashion 
as  the  artists'  bristle  brushes  or  fitches,  as 


FIG.  5. 

some  would  know  them.  The  fresco  round 
and  flat  bristle  liners  are  of  this  order. 
They  are  so  nearly  related  that  the  one 


58 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


showing  will  suffice,  the  difference  being 
that  the  fresco  liner  is  a  trifle  longer. 


iiliiminmiimiimi 

O       O       3       3       Q 
mmmiiim.mmMi 


The  flat  bristle  varnish  brushes  in  single 
and  double,  thick,  plain  or  chiseled  edges, 
are  so  similar  in  shape  to  that  of  the  fitch 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


59 


and  chiseled  edged    flat    varnish  brushes 
shown  in  figs.  6  and  7,  given  here,  that  they 


llllillil 

FIG.  7. 


will  suffice  to  illustrate  the  bristle  brushes, 
too,  as  the  shapes  are  similar  in  all  other 
respects  than  the  material  composing  them. 


60  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

The  gilder's  tip  for  picking  gold  leaf  out  of 
the  book  or  cushion  and  carrying  it  to  the 
sized  parts  to  be  gilded  is  shown  in  fig.  8. 
Stencil  brushes  are  shown  in  figs.  9  and  10. 
Camel  hair  artists'  brushes,  red  and 
black  sable  artists '  brushes,  round  and  flat 


both  of  which  are  shown  in  fig.  11.  The 
various  lettering  brushes  either  round  or 
square,  pointed  in  either  camel's  hair,  ox 
hair  or  red  or  black  sable,  are  at  all  times 
useful  to  the  decorator.  Fig.  12  shows 
their  shapes  and  gradations. 

Many  more  brushes  could  be  given  as 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


61 


nearly  every  brush  shape  has  some  advo- 
cate for  its  use.  but  the  above  will  suffice 


FIG.  10. 


for  nearly  all  the  legitimate  needs  of  the 
painter  and  decorator. 

There   is    another    one,   however,    that 


62 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


should  not  be  overlooked,  and  while  it  is 
not  used  to  spread  paint,  it  is  needed  for 


IW1 


FIG.  11. 


the  eradication  of  brush  marks  in  flatting 
in  oil  colors;  in  blending  in  water  colors, 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


63 


64  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

etc ;  it  is  the  stippling  brush,  and  its  shape 
is  well  shown  in  fig.  13. 


FIG.  13. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  VIII 

48.  What  is  said  generally  regarding 
tools  and  appliances  for  use    in    interior 
painting  ? 

49.  What  are  the  most  important  tools  ? 

50.  What  is  said  in  a  general  way  con- 
cerning brushes  ? 

51.  Which  are  the  bristle  brushes  prin- 
cipally used  in  interior  painting? 

52.  What  brushes  are  principally  used 
in  painting  and  decorating  in  water  colors  ? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  65 

LESSON  IX 

TOOLS  AND  APPLIANCES— CONTINUED 

53.  As  a  rule  there  will  be  found  but 
little  use  for  the  larger  ladders  in  interior 
work,  the   only  place  where  they  would 
likely  be  found  useful  would  be  in  the  paint- 
ing of  large  and  high  walled  halls  and 
churches  in  order  to  reach  the  working 
platforms.    These  being  built  within  reach 
of  the  work  itself  requires  but  little  ex- 
planation, as  the  carpenters  who  usually 
put  up  this  sort  of  scaffolding  know  how  to 
get  at  it  better  than  it  is  possible  to  tell  it 
in  a  manual  of  this  kind. 

The  manner  in  which  the  painting  and 
decorating  can  be  reached  readily  and  per- 
mit the  easy  performance  of  the  work  is 
the  main  thing  to  hold  in  sight  in  prepar- 
ing to  do  interior  work. 

54.  Step-ladders  as  shown  in  fig.  14  are 
needed  constantly,  especially  such  make  as 
the  figure  shows.     These  are  hinged  at  the 


66  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

top  like  the  ordinary  ladder  trestle  and 
having  well  braced,  broad  steps  can  be 
used  as  an  ordinary  step-ladder  or  to  lay 
walking  boards  upon  as  trestles,  and  are 


FIG.  14. 


perfectly  safe  to  stand  upon  as  there  is 
perfect  rigidity  in  these  ladders  even  when 
working  upon  the  top  step.  This  cannot 
be  always  attained  in  other  forms  of  step- 
ladders. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  67 

55.  The  painters'  hinged  trestles,  as 
shown  in  fig.  15,  are  very  much  used  for 
the  building  of  scaffold  in  ordinary  rooms 
or  for  holding  up  a  two-inch  walking  board 
between  a  pair  of  them  which  permits  the 
painting  of  a  stretch  the  full  length  of  the 


FIG.  15. 

room,  when  the  whole  can  be  pushed  along 
to  unfinished  parts  and  another  similar 
stretch  painted  and  so  on  until  completed. 
They  are  also  used  in  sets  of  four  some- 
times and  after  laying  2-inch  boards  be- 
tween each  pair  at  parallel  sides  of  a  room, 


63  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

other  boards  can  be  laid  crossways  and  a 
complete  covering  can  be  had  if  desired. 
Where  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of 
decoration  done  this  is  the  better  way  of 
getting  at  it,  as  it  saves  so  much  moving 
about. 


FIG.  16. 


56.  Sometimes  in  halls  or  in  places 
where  stairways  are  in  the  way  or  too  nar- 
row for  the  setting  up  of  a  step-ladder, 
some  means  must  be  resorted  to  to  remedy 
this.  A  very  good  and  cheap  device  is 
shown  in  fig.  16.  The  walking  board  can 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  69 

be  set  upon  the  projecting  teeth  wihich  will 
hold  it  firmly  while  the  other  end  can  rest 
upon  a  trestle  or  step-ladder. 

At  the  foot  of  the  trestles  shown  in  fig. 
15  will  be  also  seen  on  adjustable  walking 
board  which  is  a  very  handy  one  as  it  can 
be  used  short  or  long,  as  space  permits, 


PATENT   PEND1N3 


FIG.  17. 


and  gives  in  one  what  otherwise  would  re- 
quire a  number  of  different  lengthed,  or- 
dinary walking  boards.  It  is  sold  under 
the  name  of  adjustable  walking  board. 

57.  Another  very  convenient  device  for 
scaffolding  is  the  Tilley  adjustable  scaffold- 
ing jacks  which  is  shown  in  fig.  17.  Any 


70  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

sized  scantling  can  be  used  between  them 
up  to  2  inches  and  a  floor  laid  to  connect 
the  space  between  two  pairs,  the  height  be- 
ing adjustable,  the  platform  can  be  raised 
or  lowered  to  suit.  They  are  made  in  three 
sizes. 

The  above  will  suffice  to  indicate  what 
can  be  used  in  getting  ready  to  do  the  in- 
terior painting  of  ceilings  and  walls  and 
while  the  same  object  may  be  attained  in 
other  ways,  they  for  that  reason  may  not 
be  said  to  be  indispensable  nevertheless 
they  will  be  found  handier  and  easier  to 
handle  than  many  others  and  few  others 
will  be  found  as  good  or  as  safe  for  the 
men  to  work  with. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  IX 

53.  What  is  said  regarding  the  manner 
of  scaffolding  for  high  interior  painting? 

54.  What  kind  of  step-ladders  are  the 
most  useful? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  71 

55.  Kelate    how   the   painters'    ladder 
trestles  are  used. 

56.  What    is    an    adjustable    walking 
board  ? 

57.  What    are    adjustable    scaffolding 
jacks? 

LESSON  X 

TOOLS  AND  APPLIANCES  —  CONTINUED 

58.  The  tools  needed  in  doing  the  paint- 
ing and  for  the  preparing  its  possibility, 
by  scaffolding  and  by  means  of  step-lad- 
ders, was  the  subject  of  the  last  lesson. 
There  are  still  others  which  are  needed  to 
be  used  in  preparing  for  the  ornamenta- 
tion, such  as  for  the  preparing  of  pounces, 
stencils,  etc.,  etc.  The  most  useful  and  in- 
dispensable ones  will  form  the  subject  mat- 
ter of  this  lesson. 

59.  The  straight  edge  is  used  not  only 
in  drawing  and  drafting  but  also  in  mak- 
ing lines  in  oil  and  water  colors,  and  can- 


72  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

not  be  dispensed  with.  In  choosing  them 
one  should  be  careful  that  they  are  truly 
straight,  which  can  easily  be  seen  by  sight- 
ing along  the  edge.  One  edge  should  be 
bevelled. 

60.     The  T  square  is  another  tool  used 
in  drafting  and  drawing.  It  cannot  be  dis- 


FIG.  18. 

pensed  with  as  all  work  which,  to  look  well 
in  the  making  of  stencils,  must  be  truly 
squared  to  register  well  and  it  would  be 
impossible  to  do  that  without  its  use.  See 
fig.  18. 

61.  The  triangle  or  fourth  part  of  a  cir- 
cle is  another  tool  which,  while  not  abso- 
lutely necessary,  proves  a  great  time  saver. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


73 


Fig.  19  represents  it.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  this,  as  well  as  the  T  square  and 
straight  edge,  are  all  made  from  wood. 

62.  Woodenleg  dividers  are  also  useful 
adjuncts  to  the  drawing  table,  although  it 
can  be  better  dispensed  with  for  such 
drawings  as  the  decorator  has  to  do  than 
any  of  the  other  tools  mentioned  before. 


FIG.  19. 

Many  supply  its  place  with  a  string  and 
tack,  however,  but  it  is  a  convenience  and 
in  enlarging  certain  drawings  which  must 
be  done  to  scale,  it  will  be  greatly  missed. 

63.  A  box  of  mathematical  instruments 
does  not  come  amiss  in  making  drawings 
to  scale,  although  but  few  decorators 
would  have  much  use  for  it. 


74 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


64.     A   stencil  cutting    knife    such    as 
shown  in  fig.  20  is  needed  for  cutting  sten- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  75 

cils.  There  are  many  other  forms  of  it 
made  and  for  sale  at  the  supply  stores. 
This  one  is  excellent  for  general  stencil  cut- 
ting. It  can  be  extended  in  and  out  to  suit 
most  purposes. 

65.  A  good  side  drawing  board  to  tack 
paper  upon  in  making  designs,  while  not  a 
necessity,  is  a  great  convenience  to  have. 
A  supply  of  different  sizes  of  thumb  tacks 
to  hold  the  paper  in  place  on  the  board  and 
which  are  used  also  in  fastening  stencils 
to  ceilings  or  walls  while  coloring  the 
plumb  bob  to  true  perpendicular  lines  is  a 
too  well  known  device  to  need  illustrating, 
but  there  is  one  made  and  patented  which 
is  a  dandy,  as  it  is  a  chalk  line  and  bob  at 
one  and  the  same  time  and  a  great  time 
saver.  It  is  represented  in  fig.  21.  The 
inside  is  hollow,  containing  coloring  mat- 
ter for  the  line  when  it  can  be  snapped  as 
soon  as  plumbed,  one  end  being  fastened 
to  a  sharp  awl  which  can  be  pushed  into 
the  plaster  without  damage  to  it. 


76 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


66.  Putty  and  scraping  knife  were  il- 
lustrated in  Vol.  I  and  the  reader  referred 
to  that.  Palette  knives  to  triturate  colors 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  77 

are  useful  but  not  indispensable.  All  tools 
and  contrivances  could  be  included  in  the 
list  of  useful  articles  to  have  on  hand  for 
certain  kinds  of  work ;  but  of  those  which 
have  been  named  many  decorators  will  be 
found  who  have  never  owned  them  all — 
they  make  out  by  substituting  something 
that  answers  the  same  purpose  to  them. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  X 

58.  What  other  tools  are  reviewed  in 
this  lesson? 

59.  What  is  said  regarding  the  straight 
edge? 

60.  What  use  is  made  of  the  T  square? 

61.  What  is  said  of  triangles? 

62.  Eelate  about  dividers? 

63.  Are      mathematical      instruments 
much  used? 

64.  What  is  said  about  stencil  knives  ? 

65.  What  can  you  say  about  the  draw- 
ing board  and  other  things  mentioned? 

66.  What  other  too]s  are  needed. 


78  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

LESSON  XI 
STENCIL  CUTTING 

67.  It  is  not  intended  to  go  very  deeply 
into  the  study  of  decoration  in  this  manual, 
but  to  treat  it  in  its  preliminary  stage  leav- 
ing its  many  sided  branches  for  some  spe- 
cial study  in  subsequent  manuals  which  will 
treat  them  specially  and  at  greater  length. 
The  proper  consideration  of  drawing,  pre- 
paring and  cutting  stencils  in  itself  is  cer- 
tainly subject  matter  enough  to  fill  up  the 
whole  of  this  manual;  so  as  said  before, 
the  first  steps  is  all  that  there  will  be  room 
for  here.    It  will  be  well  to  say,  however, 
that  there  is  no  reason  why  the  student 
should  not  by  practicing  what  he  can  learn 
from  the  little  that  is  given  out,  to  become 
an  excellent  stencil  producer  and  cutter. 
Practice  makes  perfect  and  the  first  step  is 
the  hardest. 

68.  The  first  requisite  is  to  have  some 
good  manila  wrapping  paper,  or  better  still , 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  79 

some  manila  drafting  paper  upon  which  to 
draw  the  design  which  is  intended  to  be  cut 
out.  The  first  step  is  to  square  up  a  base 
line  which  is  easily  done  by 'using  the  T 
square.  Then  find  the  exact  center  of  the 
design  and  square  that  with  the  base  line 
by  the  same  process.  Then  proceed  to 
draw  one  half  only  of  the  design  intended 
to  be  cut  out.  It  is  best  to  draw  it  first 
with  a  charcoal  crayon,  then  with  a  pencil, 
correct  all  lines  to  what  they  should  be, 
wiping  off  the  charcoal  marks  entirely  so 
as  not  to  be  misled  in  the  next  operation  by 
mistaking  them  for  the  true  ones  to  follow. 

69.  The  next  step  is  to  prick  holes  in 
the  half  design  made.  This  can  be  done 
with  a  needle  or  any  other  sharp  pointed 
thing.  In  order  that  the  needle  may  pene- 
trate easily  it  will  be  well  to  lay  the  design 
upon  cloth  which  has  been  folded  suffi- 
ciently to  make  a  cushion  for  the  design. 

Better  still  than  the  needle,  is  a  good 
tracing  wheel;  some  are  made  especially 


80  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

for  this  purpose  and  so  constructed  as  to 
enable  one  to  follow  curves  as  readily  as 
straight  lines  and  to  make  complete  revol- 
utions in  circling  inside  of  one  half  inch. 

70.  Now  square  up  a  space  upon  the 
stencil  paper  similar  to  the  one  described 
in  paragraph  68,  using  pencil  for  marking 
out  the  base  line,  center  and  ends.  Make  a 
pounce  bag  out  of  any  thin  muslin.  This  is 
readily  made  by  cutting  a  small  square  of 
cloth,  in  the  center  of  which  put  some  finely 
powdered  dry  paint  of  whiting  or  any 
other  color  which  you  think  will  show  best 
upon  the  paper  you  intend  to  cut  the  sten- 
cil upon,  tie  the  muslin  up  above  the  bag 
like  ball  produced  by  the  bulk  of  the  dry 
color  inside.  The  rest  of  the  cloth  above 
the  tying  making  a  sort  of  handle  to  hold 
in  pouncing  the  design;  which  should  be 
carefully  gone  over  in  order  to  be  sure  that 
every  portion  of  it  will  show  well  on  the 
stencil  paper  below.  It  is  almost  useless  to 
tell  that  the  center  of  the  design  must  be. 


INTEKIOR  PAINTING  81 

placed  exactly  upon  the  center  line  drawn 
out  upon  the  stencil  paper  and  that  the 
base  must  be  in  perfect  line  also  with  each 
other,  otherwise  the  design  will  be  imper- 
fect from  being  untrue. 

Then  turn  the  pricked  design  over  and 
proceed  to  pounce  it  on  the  reverse  side. 
This  will  give  the  other  half  of  the  design 
in  perfect  uniformity  with  the  first  half 
giving  a  perfect  replica  to  the  first  part. 

71.  There  is  another  way  of  obtaining 
the  same  results  which  is  employed  by 
many.  The  design  is  drawn  upon  the  pa- 
per in  a  manner  similar  to  that  stated  in 
paragraph  70.  Then  instead  of  pricking 
it  to  make  a  pounce  of  it,  it  is  reversed  and 
the  design  is  traced  with  a  pencil  on  the 
back  which  is  easily  done  if  it  is  placed 
against  a  window  pane,  the  light  shining 
through  will  show  every  line  on  the  otter 
side  which  can  then  be  easily  followed  and 
traced  with  the  pencil.  This  will  give  the 
two  sides  neded  to  make  the  design  com- 


82  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

plete.  Then  proceed  to  copy  it  by  placing 
a  sheet  of  carbon  paper  between  it  and  the 
stencil  paper  to  receive  it,  having  first 
squared  and  prepared  it  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  related  in  paragraph  70— then  trace 
out  the  design  with  any  pointed  thing.  The 
carbon  paper  will  give  a  good  clearly  de- 
fined design.  After  having  gone  over  the 
first  half  of  the  design,  turn  it  over  and 
proceed  to  trace  out  the  other  side  which 
the  carbon  paper  will  faithfully  reproduce 
also,  and  there  will  be  a  clearly  marked  out 
whole— ready  to  be  cut  out.  This  gives 
clearer  markings  than  a  pounce  ordinarily 
does,  especially  when  not  well  made  or  the 
wrong  color  is  used  in  pouncing. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XI 

67.  Deals    in    generalities    concerning 
stencil  cutting. 

68.  How  are  designs  to  be  drawn  out 
upon  the  drafting  paper? 

69.  How  is  the  design  to  be  pricked? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  83 

70.  How  is  the  design  pounced  on  to 
the  stencil  paper! 

71.  In  what  other  manner  can  the  de- 
sign be  transferred  to  to  the  stencil  paper? 

LESSON  XII 
STENCIL  CUTTING— CONTINUED 

72.  In  the  preceding  lesson  the  man- 
ner of  getting  the  design  upon  the  stencil 
ready  for  the  cutting  was  explained,  this 
lesson  will  try  to  show  how  to  do  the  cut- 
ting properly. 

73.  There  are  several  makes  of  highly 
sized  paper  which  is  sold  as  stencil  paper. 
Some  is  excellent  and  again  some  is  far 
from  being  so.    The  requisites  for  a  good 
paper  are  that  it  should  be  pliable  and 
tough,  ability  to  resist  moisture  and  the 
possibility  of  making  clean  cut  edges  easily 
upon  it,  but  perhaps  the  greatest  claim  that 
can  be  made  for  it  is  that  of  toughness,  i.  e., 
in  that  it  will  not  be  likely  to  break  where 
the  ties  are  made. 


84  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

74.  The  ability  to  resist  moisture  can 
be  supplied  very  easily.    It  is  to  give  the 
finished  cut  stencil  one  or  two  coats  of 
shellac  varnish.    The  orange  shellac  is  bet- 
ter than  the  white  for  this  purpose,  as  it  is 
stronger  and  much  less  likely  to  soak  up 
than  the  other  after  repeated  use  in  water 
color  stencilling.    It  is  much  safer  to  give 
the  stencils   this  shellac  varnish  coating 
over  twice,  even  upon  the  very  best  of 
ready  prepared,  highly  sized  stencil  paper. 

75.  So   far   only   the   ready  prepared 
stencil  papers  have  been  noticed.    Many 
decorators  prefer  to  prepare  their  own, 
however,  and  such  are  in  no  wise  inferior, 
on  the  contrary  they  are  better  when  well 
prepared. 

There  are  a  number  of  ways  of  doing 
this;  about  as  good  as  any  of  them  is  to 
take  some  strong  tough  manila  drafting 
paper.  Soak  it  with  raw  linseed  oil  and  let 
it  dry  well,  then  repeat  the  dose  and  let 
that  dry  again.  The  surplus  oil  should  be 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  85 

carefully  wiped  off  or  it  will  be  gummy 
and  skinny  on  its  surface.  Stencils  cut 
upon  it  will  after  having  been  shellacked 
stand  as  much  or  more  than  those  made 
on  ready  prepared  paper. 

76.  The  first  thing  to  do  before  proceed- 
ing to  the  cutting  proper  is  to  mark  out  the 
ties.    A  tie  in  stencil  cutting  vernacular  is 
the  name  given  a  small  strip  of  uncut  paper 
as  it  helps  to  hold  the  design  together  and 
these  should  all  be  carefully  marked  out 
upon  the  design  beforehand.     This  mark- 
ing out  should  be  done  in  ink,  in  order  that 
no  mistake  can  be  made  and  an  incision 
made  beyond  the  pencil  lines  as  that  Would 
weaken  the  ties.     Their  proper  location 
generally  speaking  is  dictated  by  the  needs 
of    strengthening    the    design,    but    their 
proper  location  has  a  great  deal  to  do  in 
the  producing  of  good  effects  and  it  re- 
quires some  little  experience  in  locating 
them  at  the  right  place. 

77.  The    cutting    of    stencils    requires 


86  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

sharp  knives  and  care.  The  shape  of  the 
knives  helps  the  cutter  making  the  cuttings 
more  easily,  but  any  pen  knife  well  sharp- 
ened will  answer  the  purpose  nearly  as 
well.  The  one  shown  in  fig.  20  has  a  heavy 
handle  which  enables  one  to  have  a  better 
grip  and  control  over  it  than  with  the  usual 
penknife  and  the  tapering  form  of  the 
blade  with  a  strong  back  permit  the  cut- 
ting to  be  done  somewhat  more  easily,  but 
as  said  before,  such  are  not  indispensable. 

The  cutting  should  be  done  over  glass  or 
a  zinc  sheet— the  stencil  paper  having  been 
placed  over  them,  let  the  cutter  proceed  to 
do  his  work  carefully  so  as  not  to  trespass 
with  his  knife  .beyond  the  ink  marks  indi- 
cating the  location  of  the  ties.  It  is  better 
to  start  the  cutting  of  a  member  at  the  up- 
per and  lower  tie  cutting  away  from  the 
tie  itself  and  cutting  between  the  ties  on 
the  longer  lines  after  that ;  that  will  reduce 
the  hazard  of  cutting  over  to  the  minimum. 

Small  circles  are  best  cut  with  round 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  87 

punches,  such  as  harness  makers  use  in 
punching  leather  with.  They  are  great 
time  savers  and  can  be  procured  in  all  sizes 
up  to  %  of  an  inch  or  more.  %  in.  are  as 
large  as  will  be  required  as  above  that  size 
the  knife  will  do  the  work  about  as  well. 

Immediately  after  the  stencils  have  been 
cut,  the  shellacking  mentioned  in  para- 
graph 74  should  be  given  them  in  order 
that  they  may  be  ready  for  use  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XII 

72.  Tell  of  the  subject  matter  of  this 
lesson? 

73.  What  is  said  of  the  ready  prepared 
stencil  paper? 

74.  How  are  stencil  prepared  to  stand 
water  color  work. 

75.  How  is  other  prepared  for  stencil 
cutting? 

76.  What  is  said  regarding  the  proper 
placing  of  the  ties  ? 


88  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

77.  Relate    how    the     stencil     cutting 
should  be  done  and  the  stencils  made  ready 
for  use? 

LESSON  XIII 

POUNCES  IN  INTERIOR  DECORATION 

78.  In  the  preceding  lesson  the  man- 
ner of  preparing  pounces  for  stencil  cut- 
ting was  incidentally  mentioned  as  it  was 
necessary  to  do  so  in  order  to  pave  the  way 
to  the  preparing  for  the  stencil  cutting — 
but  all  was  not  said  concerning  them  nor 
the  making  of  them  for  the  reason  that 
pounces  play  an  important  part  in  decora- 
tion and  this  was  reserved  for  this  lesson. 

79.  The  repetition  of  conventional  de- 
signs, or  the  repetition  of  designs  that  are 
not   conventionalized  also  must  be   done 
and  can  be  done  only  through  the  use  of 
pounces  in  a  practical  manner.    By  their 
use  an  exact  repeat  can  be  produced  at  a 
minimum  of  labor. 

80.  Unlike   stencilling  on  the  designs, 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  89 

the  whole  of  the  outlines  is  hand  work 
where  pouncing  has  been  used  to  lay  out 
the  design.  The  coloring  itself  being  a 
matter  of  taste  and  the  number  of  colors 
used  unlimited.  Here  is  where  the  skill 
and  taste  of  the  artist  comes  in  for  the  lack 
of  it  will  mar  the  job  and  make  it  daubby 
wthile  when  properly  done  it  will  be  sightly 
and  pleasing  to  the  eye.  There  is  no  royal 
road  by  which  the  beginner  can  jump  in 
and  reach  success  in  it  but  by  practice  and 
perseverance  in  trying  to  do  the  execution 
in  a  workmanlike  manner. 

81.  The  beginner  should  choose  some 
modest  designs  in  frieze  work  and  the  same 
in    bordering,    centerpieces,   corners   and 
brakes,  using  but  few  colors  to  start  with 
until  his  experience  in  these  easier  exer- 
cises render  him  more  confident  and  able 
to  proceed  into  more  intricate  and  difficult 
designing. 

82.  Preparing  the  designs  for  pounce 
work  is  very  much  the  same  as  indicated 


90  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

for  the  designing  of  stencils  if  the  repeats 
are  short  especially ;  but  it  frequently  hap- 
pens that  they  are  not  doubled  up  at  the 
center  to  form  the  replica  of  the  other  half 
of  it— nor  are  they  always  so  even  in  sten- 
ciling. In  either  case,  however,  the  design 
must  be  drawn  in  full  upon  the  paper  until 
the  repeat  begins  again. 

83.  The  designing  as  noted  in  para- 
graph 68  will  apply  as  already  stated.    In 
designing  the  whole  of  the  repeat,  proceed 
to  lay  a  perfectly  well  squared  base  line 
and  perpendicular  with  it— the  end  lines 
where  the  design  begins  and  ends.    With  a 
stick  of  charcoal  the  design  which  is  to 
occupy    the    space    should    be    laid    out 
roughly;  this  should  be  corrected  until  it 
suits,  then  the   same  should  be  penciled 
and  the  charcoal  marks  removed  by  crush- 
ing and  wiping  off. 

84.  The    drawing    having    been    com- 
pleted it  should  be  pricked  as  recommended 
in  paragraph  69.     It  may  be  well  to  say 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  91 

here  that  sometimes  the  holes  clog  up  from 
the  paper  which  is  raised  on  the  underside 
being  drawn  back  to  the  places  they  were 
punched  out  of.  It  is  very  easy  to  prevent 
that  by  simply  using  some  0  sand  paper 
lightly  on  the  under  side,  taking  care  that 
it  does  not  cut  through  too  much.  The  ob- 
ject being  to  just  cut  down  the  raised  por- 
tion on  that  side  which  will  leave  the  holes 
open  and  unclogged  to  perform  the  work 
intended  they  should  do. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XIII 

78.  What  is  said  in  a  general  way  con- 
cerning pounces? 

79.  How  are  repeats  of  any  design  uni- 
formly reproduced? 

80.  What  is  said  concerning  the  use  of 
pounces  in  interior  work? 

81.  What  advice  is  given  beginners  in 
making  a  selection  of  pouncing  designs? 

82.  How  are  the  designs  to  be  drawn 
for  pounces  ? 


92  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

83.  What  is  further  said  concerning  the 
designing? 

84.  How  are  designs  to  be  pricked  and 
the  openings  cleared? 

LESSON  XIV 

PAINTING  OF  THE  WOODWORK 

85.  The    painting    of    the    woodwork 
comes  first  for  consideration.     Much  of 
what  has  been  said  concerning  the  paint- 
ing of  exteriors  in  Vol.  I,  will  apply  to  the 
painting  of  wood  in  the  interior  as  well. 
At  least  cheap  work  will  be  usually  finished 
in  the  same  way  as  the  exterior  is.    But  a& 
the  interior  wood  work  is  not  exposed  to 
the  vicissitudes  of  stormy  weather  nor  to 
the  great  changes  in  temperature  which 
prevail  upon  the  exterior,  a  much  greater 
range  of  work   can  be   done  in  interior 
painting  than  is  possible  on  the  exterior. 

86.  If  the  finish  is  in  hard  wood,  it  will 
not  be  painted  at  all,  of  course,  and  it  may 
be  finished  in  a  number  of  ways  as  will  be 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  93 

seen  in  the  volume  of  the  red  series  treat- 
ing especially  upon  wood  finishing. 

87.  It  may  be  coated  over  and  painted 
with  ground  coats  for  graining,  as  will  be 
fully  explained  in  the  volume  of  the  red 
series  treating  the  subject  of  graining  and 
marbling. 

88.  Again  it  may  be  painted  flat,  an 
operation  which  will  receive  due  attention 
in  this  manual  at  its  proper  place— where 
will  be  given  the  best  manner  and  princi- 
ples for  its  execution,  not  only  for  wood 
wiork,  but  for  all  oil  painted  wall  work  as 
well. 

89.  Or  again  it  may  be  enameled  which 
will  also  I- be  fully  explained  further  on  in 
this  manual.    As  it  pertains  nearly  exclu- 
sively to  the  wood  work  proper  or  parts  of 
the  walls  in  bath  rooms  it  will  be  handled 
in  connection  with  the  painting  of  the  wood 
work. 

90.  In    all     new    work    the    priming 
should  be  applied  with  raw  linseed  oil,  only 


94  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

mixed  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  white 
lead  to  show  where  the  application  has 
been  made,  but  not  nearly  so  thick  as  to 
hide  the  grain  of  the  wood  underneath.  Be- 
fore the  application  of  the  priming  coat 
every  part  of  the  wood  work  should  have 
been  carefully  dusted  and  the  floors  cleaned 
as  much  as  possible  in  order  that  no  dust 
may  arise  to  settle  on  the  priming.  Before 
the  application  of  the  priming  all  knots 
and  sappy  parts  of  the  wood  should  be 
gone  over  with  a  good  coat  of  orange  shel- 
lac varnish,  in  order  to  keep  them  from 
coming  through  on  the  subsequent  paint- 
ing. 

91.  The  second  coat  should  be  mixed 
very  much  as  for  exterior  painting— mid- 
dling thick  and  it  should  cover  solidly  over 
the  priming.  It  may  contain  a  generous 
quantity  of  turpentine  if  the  last  coat  is  to 
be  given  glossy,  as  a  gloss  coat  always 
looks  best  over  a  flat  coat ;  while  if  the  last 
coat  is  to  be  flat  then  but  very  little  turpen- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  95 

tine  should  be  used  in  order  to  have  it  dry 
glossy  as  flatting  looks  best  over  a  gloss 
coat.  As  no  doubt  there  will  be  nail  holes, 
possibly  cracks  and  defects  to  fill  and  level 
up  after  the  priming  has  become  dried,  all 
such  should  be  well  puttied  up  before  the 
application  of  the  second  coat.  Should  dust 
have  blown  upon  the  prining  before  it  was 
dry  the  work  should  be  gone  over  with  No. 
1  sand  paper  and  afterward  well  dusted 
before  applying  the  second  coat. 

92.  The  third  coating  described  in  this 
paragraph  presupposes  that  the  finish  is  to 
be  glossy  as  in  outside  wiork.  If  it  is  to  be 
flatted  it  will  have  to  be  given  in  the  man- 
ner related  in  lesson  15. 

The  paint  for  this  coat  should  be  heavy 
but  it  should  not  be  plastered  upon  the  sur- 
face on  the  contrary  it  should  be  well  rub- 
bed out  with  the  brush  and  on  no  part  of 
the  work  should  the  paint  be  left  thick  as 
it  is  sure  to  dry  wrinkled  if  it  is. 


96  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XIV 

85.  What  is  said  concerning  the  paint- 
ing of  the  wood  work  inside? 

86.  What  is  said  ahout  the  hard  wood 
finish? 

87.  What  is  said  about  the  graining? 

88.  What  is  said  about  the  flatting? 

89.  What  is  said  about  the  enamelling? 

90.  How   should    the   priming   be    ap- 
plied? 

91.  What    should   be    done   in    second 
coating? 

92.  How  should  the  third  coat  be  given? 

LESSON  XV 

HOW   TO  PAINT  FLAT  COATS 

93.  Flatting  is  a  mode  of  finishing  sur- 
faces which  are  painted  in  oil  in  order  to 
kill  the  glare  which  is  always  present  upon 
varnished  or  glossy  surfaces.    This  may  be 
executed  upon  all  kinds  of  surfaces— not 
only  upon  wood  work,  but  also  upon  walls  , 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  97 

and  ceilings  or  plastered  work.  As  the  les- 
sons have  not  reached  this  part  of  interior 
painting  as  yet  it  is  mentioned  because  the 
details  here  given  will  not  be  repeated 
where  that  part  of  interior  work  is  reached, 
but  the  student  will  be  referred  to  this  les- 
son for  the  details  of  the  "  modus  op- 
erandi. ' ' 

94.  Flatting  for  good  work  requires 
three  coats  of  previous  painting  and  it  be- 
comes the  fourth  one.  It  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  the  specifications  require  that 
the  flatting  be  done  in  three  coats  and  that 
it  shall  be  applied  over  the  second  one. 
"While  it  is  possible  to  do  this  in  a  way— it 
is  far  from  being  the  best  way,  and  will  not 
be  so  uniform  in  appearance  as  if  given 
upon  a  good  solid  gloss  coat  and  such  a 
coat  is  not  always  obtained  on  the  second 
coat  in  the  painting  of  new  wood.  The 
priming  penetrates  and  fills  the  wood,  but 
not  completely,  and  there  is  still  consider- 
able suction  left  afterward  so  that  the  sec- 


98  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

ond  coat  is  called  upon  to  finish  this  incom- 
plete filling.  In  doing  so  it  parts  with  a 
portion  of  its  oil,  especially  upon  soft  parts 
of  wood.  The  hard  parts  will  not  absorb 
much  if  any,  of  this  oil,  and  upon  such  the 
second  coat  will  stand  out  with  a  full  gloss 
while  it  will  flat  more  or  less  upon  the 
others.  The  surface  of  the  wood  therefore 
will  be  uneven,  and  the  third  coat  flatting 
will  be  uneven  too.  It  is  much  safer  to  in- 
sure good  work  to  give  the  third  coat  of 
oil-paint,  as  this  will  be  uniformly  glossy 
which  will  insure  a  good  all-over-alike  flat 
coat  over  it. 

95.  What  is  said  in  the  preceding 
paragraph  as  to  flatting  over  wood  work, 
is  fully  applicable  to  all  plastered  work  in 
so  far  as  it  should  be  applied  only  to  a  uni- 
form gloss  coat.  The  method  of  painting 
the  walls  will  be  considered  in  subsequent 
lessons,  so  the  student  will  have  to  wait 
till  that  is  reached  in  order  to  know  how  it 
should  be  done ;  but  the  principles  involved  , 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  99 

are  the  same.  It  matters  not  by  what  sys- 
tem the  walls  may  be  painted  nor  of  the 
number  of  coats  used— but  the  last  one 
must  have  a  uniform  gloss  to  apply  the  flat- 
ting upon. 

96.  The  mixing  of  the  flat   coat  is   a 
particular  piece  of  work,  but  presents  no 
difficulty  when  the   principles   governing 
flatting  are  understood.    These  have  been 
explained  in  so  far  as  to  the  condition  re- 
quired to  insure  a  good  flat  upon  a  gloss 
coat.    There  remains  to  explain  now  that 
the  flat  condition  of  paint  is  obtained  by 
thinning  the  pigment  with  volatile  oils— 
•such  as  turpentine,  benzine,  naphtha,  etc., 
the  first  named  being  by  far  the  best— for 
the  nostrils  and  stomach  at  least.    It  had 
possibly  been  better  to  have  said  that  tur- 
pentine is  not  quite  so  bad  as  the  others, 
which  would  have  been  nearer  the  truth, 
for  it  too  is  bad  enough,  especially  in  warm 
weather,  as  will  be  explained  later  on. 

97.  It  may  be  well  to   say  here  that 


100  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

there  are  several  degrees  of  flatting  known 
to  painters.  The  "dead  flat"  which  gives 
nearly  as  flat  a  tone  as  water  colors.  This 
is  produced  by  thinning  the  pigment  with 
volatile  oils  only.  What  is  known  as 
"drawn  flatting"  goes  even  farther  than 
that,  for  the  lead  which  in  its  paste  form 
is  ground  in  oil  is  mixed  with  benzine  over 
night  in  order  that  it  may  dissolve  the  oil 
which  was  used  in  grinding  the  lead,  and 
this  is  poured  out  after  the  white  lead  has 
settled  down.  Then  it  is  mixed  with  clear 
turpentine  as  in  dead  flat. 

Of  course  such  work  must  be  very  short 
lived,  and  easily  damaged,  as  there  is  noth- 
ing to  hold  the  pigment  on  the  walls  or 
woodwork,  but  some  people  must  have  it 
done  in  that  way  and  one  must  know  how 
to  do  it. 

98.  Much  the  better  way  is  to  add  a 
few  spoonfuls  of  linseed  oil  in  order  to 
have  something  to  hold  it  on  the  work.  It 
will  not  be  dead  flat  but  will  become  what 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  101 

painters  call  "eggshell  gloss'9  which  is  a 
very  pleasing  condition  to  the  eye.  It  has 
a  peculiar  softness  which  pleases.  It  pos- 
sesses the  advantage  over  a  dead  flat  that  a 
soft  sponge  can  be  used  over  it  to  cleanse 
it  with  but  little  danger  if  done  with  care, 
which  cannot  be  done  over  the  dead  flat 
safely. 

99.  Some  painters  use  silicate  earth 
finely  ground  to  mix  with  their  paint  in 
flatting.  Some  use  as  much  as  one-third 
by  weight  as  they  use  of  white  lead.  It  is 
claimed  that  more  oil  can  be  used  by  its  ad- 
dition to  the  lead  and  that  the  flatting  is 
softer  toned.  This  from  the  tests  made  by 
the  author  is  true,  but  he  has  not  done  so 
much  of  it  as  to  warrant  the  claim  that 
more  oil  can  be  added  than  without  its  use 
without  producing  a  gloss.  It  certainly  does 
not  cover  so  well  as  the  pure  lead  mixed 
flatting  does— but  it  is  more  economical 
and  having  a  peculiar  softness  of  its  own, 
is  well  worth  using  for  many  situations. 


102  INTERIOK  PAINTING 

100.  The  application  of  the  flat  coat  on 
wood  work  is  only  noted  here— that  of 
coating  the  walls  will  be  explained  later  on. 
The  tools  should  be  clean,  the  brashes  free 
from  specs.  They  should  be  well  broken  in, 
but  not  worn  out.  The  painting  must  be 
done  quickly  as  it  sets  rapidly.  The  opera- 
tor should  do  the  panels  of  doors  first, 
then  the  middle  stiles,  being  careful  not  to 
have  the  brush  run  over  the  edge  of  the 
cross  rails.  If  accidently  smeared  over, 
this  paint  should  be  wiped  off,  as  otherwise 
it  would  set  and  when  ready  to  paint  the 
rails  there  would  be  a  doubling  up  over 
such  places  and  the  finished  work  would 
be  imperfect.  After  painting  over  the  mid- 
dle stiles,  proceed  to  paint  the  cross  rails, 
then  the  end  stiles,  being  careful  all  along 
not  to  put  paint  outside  of  the  particular 
parts  being  painted. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  103 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XV 

93.  Is    flatting    done    on    wood    work 
only? 

94.  How  many  coats  of  paint  should 
be  given  to  new  wood  work  to  flat  upon  and 
why  so? 

95.  How  should  the  flatting  be  applied 
to  plastered  work? 

96.  What  causes  the  flatting  of  paint  ? 

97.  How  is  the  paint  mixed  for  dead 
flat,  and  drawn  flat. 

98.  What  is  an  egg  shell  gloss? 

99.  What    effect   have    silicate    earths 
upon  flatting? 

100.  How  should  the  flatting  be  applied 
upon  wood  work. 

LESSON  XVI 

ENAMELLING 

101.  Under  the  above  name  a  class  of 
work  is  done  which  is  just  the  opposite  of 
that  explained  in  the  previous  lesson.    It 


104  INTERIOR  PAIXTIXG 

is  not  used  to  nearly  the  same  extent  as 
flatting  and  on  account  of  its  glare  is  usu- 
ally confined  to  the  painting  of  wood  work, 
being  very  seldom  applied  to  plastered 
walls  and  never  outside  of  bath  rooms  and 
dadoes  of  stairways  and  halls. 

102.  When    enamelling    is    done  upon 
new  wood  it  requires  seven  coats  or  the 
going  over   work  seven  times  with  various 
coatings  in  order  to  do  a  good  first-class  job 
of  enamelling.   It  is  possible,  of  course,  to 
cut  this  down  two  or  even  three  coats,  and 
to  do  what  some  may  call  a  job  of  enamel- 
ling—but it  is  not  the  best.    As  it  is  neces- 
sary at  some  time  or  other  to  do  such  work 
after  the  best  way  shall  have  been  de- 
scribed, the  others  that  are  not  so  good  will 
be  noticed  in  order  that  the  student  may 
know  how  to  do  it  wihen  it  is  forced  upon 
him. 

103.  In    order    to    do    a  good    job    of 
enamelling  on  new  wood,  no  pains  should  be 
spared  to  have  it  in  good  condition,  by  see- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  105 

ing  to  it  that  it  has  been  well  sand  papered 
and  if  it  has  not,  to  do  it  carefully  in  order 
to  cut  down  all  the  irregularities  of  ma- 
chine planing,  etc.  This  should  be  attended 
to  before  the  priming.  Enamelling  is  usu- 
ally done  in  white  or  else  in  very  light  tints 
and  before  the  enamelling  proper  begins 
a  solid  coating  of  white  ground  must  have 
been  obtained.  This  usually  requires  four 
coats  when  done  mostly  with  French  zinc 
white  but  it  can  be  done  in  three  coats  if 
white  lead  is  used  instead,  as  it  is  so  much 
more  opaque  than  zinc.  The  great  risk  of 
white  lead  turning  yellow,  however,  and  of 
showing  through  the  semi-transparent  fin- 
ishing coats  of  zinc  and  muddying  its  spot- 
less whiteness,  unfits  it  for  the  best  work, 
except  for  the  first  two  coats. 

104.  The  wood  work  having  been  pre- 
pared as  directed  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph it  should  now  be  primed  with  white 
lead,  thinned  with  raw  linseed  oil.  Unless 
the  weather  is  very  cold  no  turpentine  need 


106  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

be  used  although  a  small  quantity  of  it 
-would  not  hurt  it.  Ample  time  should  be 
given  it  to  dry  well,  not  less  than  one  week, 
as  it  will  have  to  be  the  support  of  all  the 
rest  of  the  painting.  Then  sand  paper  it 
well  after  having  puttied  up  all  nail  holes, 
cracks  and  other  defects.  Should  any  part 
be  marred  by  having  been  sunk  into  holes, 
deep  hammer  marks,  etc.,  it  should  be 
leveled  up  with  lead  putty,  put  on  rather 
thin  and  smoothed  up  with  the  scraping 
knife. 

105.  It  is  then  ready  to  be  second  coated 
with  another  lead  coat,  but  thicker  than  is 
given  in  the  priming.  This  coat  should 
be  thinned  with  half  linseed  oil  and  half 
turpentine.  It  should  be  well  rubbed  out  in 
order  to  dry  free  of  fatty  places,  as  this 
will  greatly  mar  the  finish.  When  possible 
a  week  should  be  given  it  to  dry  hard.  It 
will  then  be  ready  to  sand  paper  and  dust 
off  for  the  next  coat.  Should  any  part 
have  been  overlooked  in  the  puttying  over 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  107 

the  priming,  now  is  the  time  to  remedy  it 
by  doing  it  over  the  second  coat. 

106.  This   coat  should  be  mixed  mid- 
dling thick,  but  not  quite  so  thick  as  it  is 
usual  to  do  in  exterior  painting.    It  should 
cover  solidly  and  give  a  well  filled  and 
opaque  surface.     The  thinning  should  be 
one-fourth  linseed  oil  and  three-fourths 
turpentine.    It  should  be  well  brushed  out 
also  in  order  to  avoid  fatty  edges  and  un- 
even covering.  Give  it  three  or  better,  four 
days  for  good  drying,  when  it  will  be  ready 
for  sand  papering  and  dusting. 

107.  The  fourth  and  last  of  the  lead 
coats  strictly  speaking  is  a  half  and  half 
coat.    Half  white  lead  and  half  zinc  white 
to  give  the  job  its  solidity.    It  should  be 
put  on  thick  and  rubbed  out  thin ;  but  little 
linseed  oil  should  be  used  in  it,  just  enough 
for  a  binder,  the  rest  being  turpentine. 
Some  painters  use  coach  japan  with  a  very 
little  oil,  thinning  with  turpentine.    If  the 


108  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

color  is  well  rubbed  out  it  will  be  in  shape 
for  the  finishing  coats. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XVI 

101.  "What  parts  of  the  interior  work 
are  sometimes  enamelled? 

102.  How  many  coats  are  required  to 
do  the  best  sort  of  enamelling? 

103.  How  should  new  work  be  prepared 
for  the  enamelling? 

104.  How  are  the  lead  coats  to  be  mixed 
and  applied.    The  priming  coat? 

105.  How  is  the  second  coat  to  be  mixed 
and  applied? 

106.  How    should    the    third    coat    be 
mixed  and  applied? 

107.  How  is  the  fourth  coat  mixed  and 
applied? 

LESSON  XVII 

ENAMELLING — CONTINUED 

108.  The  fifth  coat  and  the  next  have  an 
important  function  to  perform  in  that  they  . 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  109 

will  interpose  their  semi-transparent  but 
unchangeable  character  to  the  solid  white 
base  under  them.  They  act  as  a  glaze 
coat  too.  The  effect  being  very  similar  to 
that  seen  in  white  chinaware.  The  solid 
under  coat  can  in  a  manner  be  seen 
through  the  medium  of  these  two  semi- 
transparent  additions  producing  effects 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  obtain  in  any 
other  w,ay. 

109.  The  fifth  coat  should  be  mixed 
from  the  best  green  seal  French  zinc 
ground  in  poppy  seed  oil  and  thinned  with 
turpentine  mainly— use  no  linseed  oil  as  it 
has  a  tendency  to  darken  when  not  fully 
exposed  to  light.  Some  if  the  so-called 
white  copal  varnish  may  be  added  but  in 
small  quantity,  just  enough  to  bind  it  as  it 
is  bes<t  that  it  should  not  dry  too  glossy, 
but  nearly  flat.  It  should  be  applied  with 
care  and  well  laid  off  with  a  soft  brush  in 
order  to  avoid  brush  marks  as  much  as 
possible.  It  should  be  allowed  two  or  three 


110  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

days  to  harden  well,  then  sand  papered 
slightly  with  O  sand  paper  in  order  to  re- 
ceive the  next  coat. 

110.  The  sixth  coat  is  to  be  mixed  from 
green  seal  zinc,  ground  in  Damar  varnish 
and  should  also  be  thinned  with  that  same 
varnish  with  sufficient  turpentine  to  give 
it  a  deadened  appearance  when  dry,  and  in 
order  also  to  kill  the  gloss  it  would  have 
otherwise.     It  will  put  on  the  finishing 
touch  to  the  coloring  and  perfection  of  the 
work.     It  is  needless  to  repeat  that  the 
same  care  should  be  used  in  its  application 
as  was  stated  in  paragraph  119  for  the 
previous  coat. 

111.  The  last  coat  should  consist  of  Da- 
mar   varnish   of  the   proper   consistency 
for  application.    As  it  would  give  it  a  very 
sligh't  cast  of  a  yellowish  hue,  it  will  be  bet- 
ter to  mix  just  enough  of  the  zinc  white 
in  it  to  correct  this  defect.    It  should  be 
applied  full,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  hav- 
ing it  sag  or  run.     Soft  camel  hair  var- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  111 

nish  brushes  are  good  tools  to  put  it  on 
with. 

112.  This  seven  coat  work  as  stated  is 
for  the  best  white  finish.    What  has  been 
said  applies  to  white  only.    If  the  tints  are 
to  be  ever  so  slightly  off  the  white  as  an 
ivory  white  for  instance,  one  coat  can  be 
taken  out  of  the  seven  named  for  white 
work.    The  fourth  coat  can  be  omitted,  but 
the  rest  is  to  be  given  in  the  same  manner, 
excepting  that  instead  of  Damar  varnish 
being   used   some   good   light   copal   gum 
varnish  should  be  used  in  its  place  as  then 
it  will  be  much  harder  and  will  stand  any 
amount  of  reasonable  washing  and  clean- 
ing. 

113.  It  was  promised  that  the  cheaper 
and  easier  ways  of  enamelling  would  be 
examined  after  the  relation  of  the  best 
way,  so  to  redeem  the  promise  the  follow- 
ing method  is  given. 

The  ground  work  should  be  applied  in 
the  same  manner  as  related  in  the  previous 


112  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

lesson  up  to  the  third  coat.  If  it  has  been 
well  done  it  will  have  a  fairly  solid  appear- 
ance. See  paragraphs  113  to  115. 

114.  All  paint  manufacturers  make  en- 
amel whites  and  other  colored  enamels. 
Some  are  very  good  and  as  a  rule,  unless 
in  large  shops  or  where  the  enamelling  on 
a  job  is  on  a  big  scale,  it  will  be  found  as 
economical    and    certainly    a    great    time 
saver  to  procure  it  ready  to  apply.    Usu- 
ally two  coats  of  such  prepared  enamels 
are  given  over  the  three  foundation  coats 
previously  mentioned.     The   finish   looks 
fairly  well,  but  it  will  certainly  be  inferior 
to  that  of  seven  coat  work  at  least  in  depth. 

115.  All  that  has  been  said  so  far  ap- 
plies to  new  wood.    It  often  happens,  how- 
ever, that  property  owners  deske  to  have 
the  same  applied  in  rooms  which  have  been 
painted  over  before.    If  the  paint  is  in  fair 
shape  and  has  not  been  coated  over  too 
often,  the  priming  coat  being  omitted,  the 
ground  coats   can  be   completed  for  the 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  113 

enamelling,  by  the  application  of  two  coats 
of  paint.  The  same  care  being  used  in  level- 
ing up  and  sand  papering  between  coats  as 
was  related  before  when  it  is  finished  in 
the  manner  described  above,  for  either 
first-class  work  or  the  next  best.  If  the 
painting  has  been  overdone,  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  apply  four  to  six  more  coats 
on  top  of  it,  and  in  such  a  case  the  only  as- 
surance of  safety  lies  in  the  taking  of  it 
off  by  either  burning  or  the  use  of  the  pat- 
ent paint  removers. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XVII 

108.  What  is  mentioned  about  the  func- 
tion of  the  fifth  and  sixth  coats? 

109.  How  should  the  fifth  coat  be  mixed 
and  applied? 

110.  What  is  said  about  the  mixing  of 
the  sixth  coat  and  its  application! 

111.  How  should  the  Damar  varnish 
coat  be  prepared  and  applied? 


114  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

112.  What   is   said   about   other   light 
tinted  enamelling? 

113.  How  is  the  ground  coats  to  be  pre- 
pared and  put  on  in  the  cheaper  method 
of  enamelling? 

114.  In  what  way  is  this  cheaper  sys- 
tem of  enamelling  done  I 

115.  How  is  the  enamel  done  over  other 
than  new  work? 

LESSON  XVIII 

PAINTING  PLASTERED  WALLS  IN  OIL 

116.  Painting  the  walls  and  ceilings  in 
interior  work  is  a  very  important  part  of 
the  work,  whether  they  are  to  be  left  in 
plain  color  or  afterwards  decorated.     In 
either  case  the  processes  of  preparing  walls 
and  material  are  the  same  so  that  when  the 
plain  work  is  finished  it  will  be  ready  to  be 
decorated,   if  desired.     As  in  nearly  all 
other  branches  of  painting  there  is  a  best 
way  of  doing  the  work,  and  a  number  of 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  115 

other  methods  which  are  more  or  less 
faulty  and  liable  to  cause  trouble  later.  As 
some  are  fairly  good  and  make  quite  a  re- 
duction in  the  cost,  they  will  be  noticed  as 
well  as  the  best  way  in  subsequent  para- 
graphs. 

117.  Plastered   walls   are   much   more 
porous  and  absorbing  than  wood,  and  re- 
quire four  coats  of  paint  in  order  to  fill 
them  properly,  so  as  to  present  a  good 
solid  uniform  finish.     Some  walls  will  be 
found  even  after  four  coats  of  paint  check- 
ered all  over  with  what  painters  call  fire 
cracks,  when  this  is  the  case,  it  will  usu- 
ally take  two  more  coats  to  kill  them  to  a 
certainty. 

118.  Fire    cracks    are    seam-like    runs 
upon    the    walls    which  run  in  all  direc- 
tions in  zig-zag  lines  and  which  look  flat 
when  the  rest  of  the  painting  will  show  a 
gloss.    Even  in  flatting  they  will  show  so 
much  more  flatter  than  the  other  work,  as 
to  be  plainly  noticed  as  defects.     They 


116  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

seem  insatiable  in  absorbing  linseed  and 
other  thinners  used  in  paint.  No  inside 
painting  is  entirely  free  of  these  fire  cracks 
which  are  so  fine  as  to  be  unnoticeable 
upon  unpainted  walls,  nor  do  they  appear 
really  as  cracks  having  an  opening  even 
after  painting,  but  as  streaks  where  the 
paint  has  sunk  in.  There  are  several  theo- 
ries as  to  the  cause  of  these  cracks,  to  ex- 
amine which  would  take  up  too  much  of  our 
space.  It  is  enough  for  the  present  to 
know  of  their  existence  and  their  presence 
will  account  for  much  of  what  otherwise 
would  appear  as  unnecessary  work,  which 
is  done  in  order  to  overcome  them. 

119.  In  doing  the  best  work  it  was 
stated  in  the  previous  paragraph  that  four 
coats  were  necessary  in  order  to  make  a 
uniform  job  of  wall  painting  on  plastered 
walls;  but  for  the  "fire  cracks"  three 
coats  would  usually  suffice,  the  extra  one 
being  necessary  to  fill  up  those  insatiable 
sponge-like  wall  defects,  even  then  one  is 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  117 

not  always  sure  that  the  four  coats  will 
do  so  and  a  proviso  was  inserted  saying 
that  where  they  did  not  do  so  it  would  re- 
quire two  more,  this  will  be  explained  fur- 
ther on.  In  most  walls  the  four  coats  will 
be  found  sufficient,  however.  - 

In  what  this  manual  is  called  "best 
work"  there  is  no  preparation  put  upon 
the  walls  in  order  to  kill  the  suction  of  the 
walls  and  that  of  the  fire  cracks.  In  this 
system  this  is  all  stopped  by  the  action  of 
the  linseed  oil  of  the  paint.  The  fire  cracks 
are  filled  until  they  cannot  absorb  any 
more.  The  other  method  obviates  the  ap- 
plication of  so  many  coats  of  paint,  by  stop- 
ping this  suction  and  absorption  right  in 
the  start  by  a  preparatory  application  of  a 
strong  glue  size  coat.  But  it  frequently 
happens  that  plaster  absorbs  moisture 
from  behind  or  that  water  pipes  burst  on 
the  upper  floors  or  a  bucket  of  water  is 
spilled  upon  them,  when  the  water  will  find 
its  way  to  the  ceilings  at  least.  The  wa- 


118  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

ter  will  swell  the  glue  size  and  then  it  will 
crack  and  scale  off  with  the  paint  on  top 
of  it.  Glue  even  without  the  water  will  de- 
cay in  time  and  crumble  or  scale  off;  so 
that  there  is  no  assurance  of  permanency 
in  such  work;  but  in  best  work,  no  such 
happenings  would  affect  it  as  the  paint  is 
firmly  anchored  into  the  pores  of  the  plas- 
ter itself,  and  it  will  stay  on  till  that  comes 
off.  This  is  why  it  is  called  the  best  way. 
It  is  admitted  that  it  costs  more,  but  in  the 
end  it  may  be  the  cheapest,  by  far  as  will 
be  seen  later. 

120.  The  first  step  in  the  painting  is  the 
repairing  of  the  walls,  should  any  of  them 
be  defective.  Usually  new  work  is  in  good 
shape,  but  in  old  work  cracks  from  the  set- 
tling down  of  buildings,  frequently  occur 
and  holes  or  other  defects  in  the  plaster 
work  must  be  filled  up  and  leveled.  Plaster 
of  paris  mixed  with  glue  water  to  keep  it 
from  setting  so  rapidly  is  the  best  to  use 
as  the  glue  helps  not  only  in  giving  more 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  119 

time  for  working  it,  but  also  as  a  size  in 
order  to  prevent  the  paint  showing  the 
sinking  of  the  color  in  the  crack.  A  scrap- 
ing or  in  fine  cracks  an  ordinary  putty 
knife  will  answer  the  purpose  of  a  trowel, 
but  in  putting  on  big  patches  a  plastering 
trowel  should  be  used. 


QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XVIII 

116    What   is   said   in   a   general   way 
about  painting  plastered  walls! 

117.  What  else  is  said  in  this  regard 
and  the  number  of  coats  required  for  "best 
work"? 

118.  What  are  fire-cracks  ? 

119.  How  is  "best  work"  to  be  done 
and  why  is  it  called  best  work  ? 

120.  How  should  the  walls  be  prepared 
for  the  painting? 


120  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

LESSON  XIX 

PAINTING  PLASTERED  WALLS  IN  OIL — CON- 
TINUED 

121.  The  priming  coat  should  be  put  on 
with  a  view  of  filling  up  the  sponge  char- 
acter of  plastered  work  as  much  as  possi- 
ble. Kaw  linseed  oil  is  about  all  that  will  be 
necessary  with  just  enough  pigment  added 
to  it  to  show  the  progress  of  the  paint- 
ing. In  cold  weather  a  little  volatile  oil 
preferably  turpentine,  should  be  added  to 
it  in  order  to  make  it  more  limped  and 
penetrating;  but  it  is  not  needed  in  warm 
weather.  The  paint  should  be  well  rubbed, 
in  that  it  may  be  absorbed  by  the  walls 
in  sufficient  quantity,  but  one  should  guard 
against  the  danger  of  putting  it  on  so 
heavy  as  to  have  it  run,  all  surplus  that  is 
not  absorbed  by  the  walls,  should  be  well 
wiped  out  to  guard  against  this  danger.  It 
should  then  be  allowed  to  dry  to  perfec- 
tion, which  will  require  8  or  10  days  more 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  121 

when  it  should  be  lightly  sand  papered  and 
dusted. 

122.  It  is  then  ready  for  second  coating. 
The  color  should  be  mixed  somewhat  near 
to  the  tint  which  it  is  intended  to  be  the 
final  color,  but  somewhat  darker  in  order 
that  the  next  two  coats  may  cover  well  over 
it  and  to  guard  against  holidays  in  the  ap- 
plication of  the  next  coat.  The  coat  should 
not  be  too  heavy  with  pigment  and  should 
be  thinned  with  considerable  turpentine 
in  order  that  it  may  dry  with  a  semi-flat 
—that  is  if  the  finishing  coat  is  to  be  flat- 
ted; otherwise  it  will  not  matter  so  much 
and  really  it  will  be  best  to  give  it  so  as  to 
have  it  ,dry  with  a  partial  gloss.  The 
readers  will  remember  that  in  the  lesson 
on  flatting  (see  paragraphs  93  to  97)  the 
rule  is  laid  down  that  in  order  to  obtain  a 
good  uniform  flat  the  ground  coat  for  it 
should  be  glossy  and  that  for  a  good  gloss 
or  enamel  the  ground  coat  should  be  flat— 
hence,  the  seeming  contradictory  advice 


122  INTERIOR  FAINTING 

given  here  in  the  thinning  to  let  that  be  ac- 
cording to  the  finish  designed. 

123.  The  third  coat  should  be  put  on 
with  a  fair  quantity  of  pigment  in  it,  but 
not  too  thick  either,  for  easy  application, 
acording  as  to  whether  the  finish  is  to  be 
glossy  or  flat  will  depend  the  manner  of  its 
thinning. :    In  the  last  named  it  will  have 
to  be  glossy  and  considerable  linseed  oil 
should  be  used  in  order  to  produce  it  if  on 
the  contrary  a  gloss  finish  is  desired  than 
let  it  be  nearly  flat  and  thin  it  with  mostly 
turpentine. 

124.  The  3rd  coat  should  be  stippled. 
The  stippling  brush  (see  fig.  13)  should  be 
carefully  used  over  the  painted  surface  in 
order  to  eradicate  all  brush  marks  and 
leave  the  painting  uniform.    It  gives  it  a 
fine  sanded  appearance  too,  far  superior 
to  what  the  same  painting  would  be  with- 
out it. 

The   stippling   should  be   done  system- 
atically.   One    should    commence    at    one 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  123 

corner  and  work  straight  towards  the 
other  corner  lapping  the  strokes  over 
each  other,  in  order  not  to  miss  any 
part,  then  proceed  to  stipple  another  row 
below  the  first  lapping  that  a  trifle  too.  In 
that  way  good  stippling  will  be  done.  The 
third  coat  should  be  just  a  trifle  darker 
than  the  last  coat. 

If  the  room  is  to  be  decorated  and  the 
walls  be  divided  into  panels  and  stiles,  in 
order  to  insure  perfect  work,  these  divi- 
sions should  be  lined  out  now  with  the 
chalk  line  and  the  proper  finishing  coats 
should  be  given  of  a  trifle  darker  tone, 
however,  than  the  fourth  or  finishing  coat. 

125.  The  fourth  and  what  should  be  the 
last  coat  (the  fire  cracks  permitting) 
should  be  mixed  flat  or  at  least  of  an  egg 
shell  gloss,  especially  if  it  is  to  be  dec- 
orated. The  paint  should  be  middling 
thick  and  mixed  as  directed  for  flatting 
with  mostly  turpentine.  The  stippler 
should  not  be  very  far  behind  as  this  flat 


124  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

paint  sets  very  quickly  and  then  it  is  im- 
possible to  stipple  it  well.  If  per  chance 
the  finish  is  to  be  glossy  then  the  thinning 
should  have  a  good  quantity  of  linseed  oil 
in  it.  This  is  very  seldom  done,  however, 
as  there  are  very  few  situations  where  it 
is  at  all  admissible. 

126.  Now  as  said  before,  if  the  fire 
cracks  behave  themselves,  the  work  will 
present  a  fine  uniform  appearance— but ! 
if  they  happen  to  come  through,  alas !  and 
they  do  sometimes ;  there  is  nothing  left  to 
do'but  to  go  over  the  last  two  coats  over 
again  in  the  same  manner  as  stated  before. 
It  might  be  that  but  one  coat  would  be 
necessary  yet  as  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
give  a  good  flat  coat  over  another  flat  coat 
it  will  be  necessary  to  give  it  an  under- 
coat of  gloss. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XIX 

121.  How  should  the  priming  be  mixed 
and  applied! 


INTERIOK  PAINTING  125 

122.  How   should  the   second   coat  be 
mixed  and  applied? 

123.  How    should    the    third    coat    be 
mixed  and  applied? 

124.  What  is  the  effect  of  stippling  and 
how  is  it  done  ? 

125.  How  is  the  fourth  coat  mixed  and 
put  on  ? 

126.  If  the  fire  cracks  show  through  on 
the  fourth  coat,  what  will  have  to  be  done  ? 

LESSON  XX 

PAINTING  PLASTERED  WORK  IN  OIL— CON- 
TINUED 

127.  It  was  seen  in  the  former  two  les- 
sons that  fire  cracks  were  the  cause  which 
required  an  extra  coat  of  paint  and  some- 
times three  in  order  to  effectually  hide 
them.    Now  if  they  can  be  prevented  from 
showing  by  the  application  of  sizing  which 
will  at  the  same  time  stop  the  suction  of 
the  paint  into  the  wall,  the  number  of  coats 


126  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

and    cost    of    doing    the    work    will    be 
materially  reduced. 

128.  A  fairly  strong  sizing  of  glue  will 
do  this.     It  will  effectually  stop  the  fire 
cracks  from  showing  and  also  stop  the  plas- 
ter suction  of  the  oil  from  the  paint,  so 
that  the  work  can  be  done  in  two  coats  plus 
the  sizing  coat  itself. 

129.  The  first  coat  over  the  glue  sizing 
should  be  given  rather  heavy  in   order 
that  it  may  cover   fairly  well  and  look 
nearly  solid.     It  should  be  nearly  all  oil 
in  order  to  carry  a  gloss  and  should  be 
nearly  of  the  same  color  as  the  next  or  fin- 
ishing coat.    For  good  work  it  should  be 
stippled. 

130.  The  second  or  finishing  coat  should 
be  put  on  as  described  in  paragraph  135. 
It  stands  to  reason  that  while  the  results 
produced  will  be  nearly  if  not  quite  as 
good  as  those  obtained  in  the  method  de- 
scribed as  "best  way"  that  such  painting 
cannot  be  more  permanent  than  the  glue 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  127 

which  holds  it  up  and  must  be  subject  to 
viscissitudes  which  will  not  affect  the  first 
—such  as  moisture,  for  instance. 

131.  There  is,  however,  a  better  way— 
a  sort  of  a  compromise  between  the  best 
and  that  named  above.    It  has  the  same 
advantage  as  the  last  in  protecting  the  job 
against  fire  cracks  and  but  that  it  requires 
an  extra  coat  of  paint,  i.  e.,  three  coats  in- 
stead of  two  would  be  used  more  than  it  is. 
Under  this  system  a  coat  of  oil  paint  is 
given  directly  over  the  plaster. 

A  coat  of  glue  size  is  given  over  this 
paint  coat  when  dry  and  the  next  two  coats 
are  applied  as  stated  before. 

132.  The  last  is  much  the  best  of  the 
two  systems  mentioned  in  this  lesson.  But 
it  only  saves  one  coat  of  paint  over  the 
best  way  and  upon  walls  which  are  good 
and  upon  which  one  can  be  reasonably  cer- 
tain that  the  four  coats  will  effectually 
hide  the  fire  cracks  the  saving  will  not  be 
very  great,  as  the  time  required  to  put  on 


128  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

the  sizing  coat  will  nearly  make  up  for  the 
paint  coat  saved.  It  is  only  where  there  is 
great  danger  that  the  fire  cracks  will  show 
through  the  fourth  coat  that  there  would 
be  a  real  saving,  as  then  it  would  cut  out 
the  two  extra  coats  which  it  would  be  ne- 
cessary to  give  the  walls. 

QUESTIONS  OX  LESSON  XX 

127.  What  other  methods  can  be  used 
to  produce  good  looking  painted  surfaces 
on  plaster? 

128.  "What  is  said  about  the  sizing  of 
walls? 

129.  How  should  the  first  coat  be  put 
on? 

130.  What  is  said  about  the  mixing  and 
putting  on  of  the  second  coat? 

131.  Can  you  name  another  method  of 
painting  plastered  walls? 

132.  Which  of  these  two  systems  is  to 
be  recommended  above  the  other? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  129 

LESSON  XXI 

FLOOR    PAINTING,    VARNISHING    AND     WAXING 

133.  Floors  are  an  important  part  of 
the  interior  finishing  in  buildings  these 
times.     Under  the  old  system  of  nailing 
down  carpets  all  over  a  room  most  any- 
thing was  good  enough  in  the  estimation  of 
many  builders ;  but  now  with  rugs  extend- 
ing only  over  the  center  portion  of  the 
floors,  it  becomes  necessary  to  use  better 
lumber  and  that  the  lumber  itself  should 
receive  some  kind  of  treatment  that  will 
improve  its  looks  and  shield  it  from  in- 
juries likely  to  mar  its  beauty. 

134.  There  are  a  number  of  ways  of  fin- 
ishing floors  according  as  to  the  kind  some- 
what or  to  what  purpose  they  shaH  be  used 
for.    They  may  be  simply  oiled  or  given  a 
wax  finish,  or  again,  varnished  in  various 
ways ;  they  may  be  painted  or  grained  and 
varnished.     These  several  ways  of  finish- 
ing floors  will  form  the  subject  matter  of 
this  lesson. 


130  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

135.  Floors  may  be  oiled  to  good  ad- 
vantage.   It  makes  a  rather  tame  looking 
finish  but  such  is  desirable  as  in  kitchens, 
etc.,  or  in  large  public  institutions,  where  a 
glare  wiuld  be  out  of  place,  as  in  hospitals, 
etc.  Linseed  oil   (raw)   to  which  a  small 
quantity   of   turpentine   has    been   added 
to   increase   its   fluidity   should  be   used. 
All  surplus  oil  that  is  not  absorbed  by  tho 
wood  should  be  carefully  wiped  off  with 
soft  absorbing  rags  for  if  any  of  this  sur- 
plus oil  should  dry  upon  the  top  of  the 
boards    it    will    form  a   skin  which  will 
scratch  through  and  in  time  will  be  eye 
sores  instead  of  a  benefit  in  beautifying  the 
room  as  intended. 

136.  An  excellent  manner  in  applying 
the  oil  is  to  mix  raw  linseed  oil  with  ordi- 
nary kerosene,  two-thirds  of  the  former 
to  one-third  of  the  latter.    This  mixture  is 
very  penetrating,  can  be  easily  wiped  off 
when  the  lumber  is  filled  and  gives  good  re- 
sults.   All  oiled  floors  should  be  gone  over 


INTERIOE  PAINTING  131 

when  they  become  dinged,  with  a  soft  rag 
dipped  in  raw  linseed  oil  and  kerosene,  this 
will  clean  up  ordinary  spotting  and  dirt 
and  restore  it  to  its  original  condition. 
Care  should  be  used  to  use  no  more  than 
will  wipe  up  clean  from  the  surface  of  the 
boards. 

137.  Floors  are  waxed  in  many  various 
ways  also.  The  better  way  is  to  give  the 
floor  one  coat  of  linseed  oil  as  a  priming. 
It  will  prevent  the  absorption  of  moisture 
and  the  consequent  warping  of  the  boards. 
Then  some  of  the  ready  prepared  wax,  fin- 
nishes  may  be  applied  over  it  after  it  has 
become  thoroughly  hardened.  After  the 
wax  has  been  applied  as  by  the  directions 
given  upon  the  packages  holding  it,  it 
should  be  polished  with  the  weighted  floor 
brush,  see  fig.  22.  It  will  require  another 
coat  of  the  wax  finish  for  good  work  on  new 
wax  work.  This  should  be  polished  too,  in 
the  same  manner  as  stated  above.  Waxed 
floors  can  be  kept  in  good  condition  indefin- 


132 


INTERIOR  PAINTING 


itely  with  an  occasional  renewing  of  a  coat 
of  wax  and  sometimes  even  without  that— 
the  weekly  use  of  the  weighted  brush  alone 
will  usually  restore  its  even  subdued  polish. 
138.  The  French  wax  floor  polish  is 
done  very  much  in  the  same  way.  It  may 

USE  ONLVTHE  ORIGINAL. 


:ACES 


FIG.  22. 

be  applied  over  the  bare  wood,  but  for  the 
reason  stated  it  is  best  to  prime  it  first.  It 
is  a  water  solution  of  wax,  either  white  or 
colored  up  with  pigment.  The  solution  is 
made  by  boiling  with  water  to  which  an  al- 
cali  has  been  added. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  133 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXI 

133.  What  is  said  regarding  floors  f 

134.  In  how  many  different  ways  may 
floors  be  finished? 

135.  How  should  floors  be  oiled  f 

136.  In  what  other  way  may  floors  be 
oiled? 

137.  How  are  floors  to  be  waxed? 

138.  How  is  French  wax  polish  made 
and  applied? 

LESSON  XXII 

FINISHING   FLOORS  —  CONTINUED 

139.  The  new  floors  should  have  had  a 
good  surface  scraping  by  the  carpenters 
before  being  turned  over  to  the  painters. 
When  this  has  not  been  the  case,  he  should 
so  have  it  arranged  that  he  shall  claim 
some  extra  pay  for  doing  this  work,  which 
does  not  properly  belong  to  him.   The  job 
should  be  very  carefully  dusted  and  the 
floor  should  have  a  coat  of  hardwood  filler 


134  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

given  it,  thinned  as  directed  on  the  can 
and  wiped  off  with  tow  or  excelsior  after 
which  a  good  dusting  and  cleaning  cloth 
wiping  given  it.  It  should  stand  12  hours 
when  a  coat  of  shellac  varnish  should  be 
given  it,  if  the  wood  is  finished  light,  the 
white  shellac  will  be  the  best,  if  dark  the 
orange  being  stronger  and  the  color  unob- 
jectionable, that  should  be  used— then  it 
will  be  ready  for  the  varnishing  when  dry 
and  after  receiving  a  slight  No.  0  or  % 
sand  paper  and  dusting  off  again. 

140.  It  is  useless  to  expect  good  re- 
sults from  varnished  floors  when  a  poor 
quality  of  varnish  is  used.  Use  only  that 
made  for  this  specific  purpose  by  some 
reputable  varnish  house.  Apply  the  coats 
full,  but  not  sufficiently  so  as  to  dry  wrink- 
led. It  will  usually  make  a  better  job  to 
slightly  rub  over  the  first  coat  of  varnish 
when  dry  with  some  hair  cloth  in  order  to 
dull  it  and  then  apply  another  coat  of  var- 
nish over  it  as  two  coats  are  not  too  much 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  135 

to  stand  the  constant  walking  over  it  for 
any  length  of  time  without  wearing 
through. 

141.  It  will  be  better  to  apply  a  coat 
of  hard  wax  over  it  and  to  polish  it.     It 
does  not  mar  as  readily  as  the  French  wax 
polish  will  when  coated  over  wood  that  has 
not  been  varnished,  and  it  protects  the  var- 
nish coat  in  so  much  that  where  it  has 
worn  through  another  coat  of  the  hard  wax 
can  be  given  which  will  restore  the  parts 
worn  to  a  uniform  finish  as  good  as  the  rest 
of  the  room.    This  is  an  impossibility  with 
touched  up  varnishing.    It  is  sure  to  show 
all  the  touched  up  spots  and  when  an  all 
over  coat  is  given  they  will  show  through  as 
blemishes  just  the  same. 

142.  There  are  some  old  floors  in  very 
bad  condition  in  many  old  houses,  some 
with  wide  cracks  and  splinters  which  have 
been  pulled  off  leaving  them  uneven  and 
in  a  dilapidated  condition.    In  such  a  case 
these  cracks,  holes  and  other  inequalities 


136  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

must  be  filled  up.  There  are  upon  the  mar- 
ket a  number  of  excellent  crack  fillers— 
many  of  them  have  an  accompanying  liquid 
the  composition  of  which  the  manufac- 
turers naturally  keep  to  themselves. 
There  is  an  excellent  one,  however,  which 
comes  in  a  dry  powder  and  is  simply  mixed 
with  cold  water  and  applied  with  a  putty 
or  scraping  knife.  It  dries  hard  in  ten  to 
twelve  hours  and  never  shrinks  from  the 
cracks,  leaving  them  filled  solidly.  It  is 
so  good  that  our  rule  of  not  giving  names 
to  patented  articles  usually  is  laid  aside  in 
this  instance.  It  is  called  the  Anderson's 
Water  Putty  for  filling  cracks.  It  is  shown 
in  fig.  22,  parts  not  filled  and  those  that 
have  been. 

143.  Frequently  floors  are  painted  all 
over  and  left  in  their  painted  state.  When 
the  paint  selected  is  of  the  proper  mixture 
this  kind  of  finish  will  last  a  long  time 
with  an  occasional  renewal  coat.  The 
paint  should  dry  very  hard  and  should 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  137 

stand  rubbing  over  without  being  easily 
marred.  The  oxides  of  lead  form  an  ideal 
base  for  such  paint.  It  was  seen  that  red 
lead  (the  bioxide  of  lead)  drys  with  a  met- 
allic hardness ;  so  will  the  monoxide  of  that 
metal ' t  litharge. ' '  Either  used  as  the  base 
of  the  floor  paint  can  have  its  color  changed 
by  the  addition  of  white  lead  and  coloring 
pigments  and  made  up  into  a  number  of 
good  neutral  tints  of  gray,  drabs  and  buffs. 
The  base  of  course,  should  predominate  in 
the  mixture.  Two  but  better,  three  coats  of 
such  paint  will  make  a  floor  upon  which  the 
horn  pipe  may  be  danced  without  much 
danger  of  rubbing  through  to  the  wood 
every  time  it  is  indulged  in. 

144.  The  ground  which  is  painted  upon 
the  floor  preparatory  to  the  graining  may 
be  such  as  the  grainer  may  think  is  best 
for  his  purpose.  Two  and  better,  three 
coats  of  the  ground  coat  paint  should  be 
applied,  being  careful  not  to  have  it  to 
thick  nor  too  oily— it  should  be  rather  flat 


138  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

all  the  way  through  after  the  priming,  as 
then  there  will  be  less  likelihood  of  the  hard 
varnish  put  over  the  graining  cracking.  It 
may  be  grained  in  oil  or  water  colors  in 
the  manner  described  in  Vol  IV  of  the  Red 
series. 

145.  The  graining  if  done  in  oil  should 
be  allowed  to  dry  very  hard  before  it  is 
varnished.  The  varnish  itself  should  be  a 
good  one.  A  good  hard  floor  varnish  will 
be  the  best  sort  to  use  as  it  must  not  only 
act  as  a  protection  to  the  graining,  but  it 
must  be  able  to  stand  the  wear  and  grind 
of  the  walking  done  upon  the  floor  at  the 
same  time.  Two  coats  should  be  applied 
over  the  graining,  full  but  not  "flowing." 

'QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXII 

139.  How  are  the  floors  prepared  for 
varnishing? 

140.  How  is  the  varnishing  applied? 

141.  How  should  hard  wax  be  used  on 
varnished  surfaces? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  139 

142.  How  should  old  floors  be  prepared 
for  painting? 

143.  How  should  they  be  painted  and 
ground  for  graining? 

144.  How  should  they  be  grained  ? 

145.  How  should  they  be  varnished  over 
the  graining? 

LESSON  XXIII 

INTERIOR    PAINTING    OF    PLASTERED    WALL    IN 

WATER    COLORS,    PREPARING    COLORS    AND 

GROUND 

146.  Heretofore    the    various    descrip- 
tions given  of  interior  painting  referred  ex- 
clusively to  oil  work.     The  designing  of 
stencils  and  pounces  intended  for  decora- 
tive work  can  be  used  it  is  true  in  either 
oil  or  water  color  work,  but  the  details 
given  for  the  application,  etc.,  of  paint  in 
oil  will  not  be  of  any  value  to  guide  one  in 
water  color  work. 

In  all  the  former  lessons  the  medium 
through  which  the  colors  are  applied  had 


140  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

an  inherent  power  of  its  own  to  bind  the 
colors  on  to  the  surfaces  over  which  they 
were  applied.  Not  so  in  water  colors ;  as  we 
have  seen  water  has  no  binding  properties 
so  that  must  be  furnished  it  by  the  addition 
of  soluble  substances  which  possess  the 
proper  binding  quality. 

147.  Gum-Arabic  among  the  vegetable 
substances  and  glues  among  those  of  ani- 
mal extraction  have  had  their  action  al- 
ready explained  in  paragraphs  38  to  40,  so 
the  reader  is  referred  to  them  for  the 
proper  details  as  to  their  characteristics. 
The  former  is  very  seldom  used  on  account 
of   its   expense   and   the   greater   trouble 
in  preparing  the  colors  for  use  with  it.  The 
glues  then  may  be  said  to  form  the  back 
bone  of  water  color  painting. 

148.  Water  does  not  make  colored  pig- 
ments transparent  as  linseed   and  other 
oils  do,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  white 
earth  pigments  which    in  oil  are  rendered 
so  transparent  as  to  unfit  them  for  use 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  141 

alone  in  that  medium.  These  very  pig- 
ments form  the  base  of  all  light  tints  in 
water  colors  and  they  are  frequently  used 
in  their  self  white  colors  as  well.  Therefore 
Whiting,  China,  Clay,  White  Silicates,  Gyp- 
sum which  are  useless  in  oil  used  alone,  in 
water  colored  work  are  indispensable  es- 
pecially the  first  named.  When  mixed  in 
water  colors  all  the  above  cover  solidly  in 
one  coat  over  almost  any  surface  where  the 
coating  can  be  applied  evenly  all  over  alike. 

149.  All  pigments  used  in  the  mixing  of 
water  colored  tints  should  be  first  well 
soaked  up  in  water  to  a  stiff  paste,  free 
from  lumps.  The  glue  should  have  been 
soaked  up  in  cold  water  for  several  hours 
before  it  is  dissolved  in  warm  water.  Then 
in  the  condition  mentioned,  it  will  have 
swelled  up  to  many  times  its  former  bulk 
and  weight  as  good  glue  will  absorb  eigh- 
teen times  its  weight  of  water.  Then  it 
will  melt  rapidly  by  the  addition  of  a  little 
boiling  water.  One  ounce  of  good  glue  will 


142  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

usually  bind  one  and  one-half  pounds  of 
whiting  and  even  more  if  there  is  to  be 
only  one  coat  work  made  of  the  distenper 
work.  Should  there  be  a  considerable  ad- 
dition of  other  colored  matter  to  whiting 
base,  this  should  be  computed  and  a  proper 
allowance  of  glue  should  be  added  to  the 
amount  required  by  the  whiting.  The 
whiting  and  coloring  pigments  having 
been  soaked  should  now  be  thinned  a  trifle 
more  in  order  that  they  may  be  mixed  to- 
gether into  the  desired  tints.  The  melted 
glue  should  be  added  to  the  whiting  base 
first,  and  the  colors  added  into  that  grad- 
ually in  order  not  to  overdo  it  and  make  a 
tint  darker  than  is  required.  The  proper 
way  is  to  test  the  tints.  All  water  color 
tints  appear  much  darker  when  wet  than 
they  dry  out  so  that  usually  the  adding  of 
too  much  coloring  is  not  so  likely  to  hap- 
pen as  in  the  mixing  of  tints  in  oil,  but  the 
reverse  in  that  the  tints  will  usually  be  too 
light  toned.  The  proper  way  to  test  is  to 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  143 

apply  a  little  of  the  color  upon  a  piece  of 
paper  and  to  let  it  dry  out  in  the  sun  or  on 
a  stone,  when  the  drying  is  complete  it 
will  indicate  the  colors  that  are  lacking  to 
complete  the  tint  wanted.  It  takes  some 
little  time  for  one  to  become  a  good  and 
quick  tint  maker  in  water  colors,  and  ex- 
perience is  the  only  way  open  for  one  to  be- 
come an  adept  at  color  mixing. 

150.  Water  colors  as  a  rule  are  easier 
to  apply  after  they,  have  cooled  and  be- 
come jellied.  When  they  have  been  highly 
sized  as  it  is  sometimes  necessary  that 
they  should  be  where  it  is  desirable  to  rub 
over  them  with  other  colors  in  decoration, 
the  size  would  jell  too  hard  so  much  so  that 
the  brush  could  not  be  dipped  into  the 
color;  under  such  circumstances  the  color 
should  be  warmed  occasionally  sufficiently 
to  prevent  its  jellying. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXIII 
146.    What  is  said  regarding  water  color 
painting  in  general? 


144  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

147.  What  are  the  principal  substances 
used  in  water  color  painting? 

148.  What  is  said  of  the  coloring  pig- 
ments and  of  the  earth  whites  ? 

149.  How  are  pigments  and  glue  mixed 
for  the  preparing  of  tints? 

150.  Are    water    colors    always    used 
cooled  before  their  application? 

LESSON  XXIV 

PAINTING  PLASTERED  WALLS  IN  WATER  COLORS, 

CALCIMINING  OR  DISTEMPER  WORK  — 

CONTINUED 

151.  New  plastered  walls  which  have 
been  finished  with  the  modern  hard  plaster 
and  a  skim  coat  of  plaster-paris  usually 
presents  no  difficulty  to  the  application  of 
the  water  colors  so  that  one  coat  over  them 
will  give  a  good  solid  covering.     But  un- 
like in  oil  painting  where  a  number  of 
coats  are  required  in  producing  this  effect, 
it  is  very  much  better  for  the  durability  of 
the  work  that  it  be  done  only  in  one  coat. 


INTERIOR  ^PAINTING  145 

The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  thinner  it 
is  the  less  the  likelihood  of  its  cracking 
and  scaling.  Another  very  good  reason  is 
that  it  is  sometimes  very  difficult  to  give 
another  coat  upon  another,  especially  if  it 
has  not  been  highly  sized,  which  usually 
means  a  still  greater  danger  of  the  work 
scaling  by  the  application  of  another  coat. 
The  principal  idea  to  keep  in  mind  then  in 
painting  walls  in  water  colors  let  it  be 
called  * '  calcimining,  distemper,  fresco  or 
water  color,  which  after  all  are  nearly  all 
interchangeable  names  for  the  same  thing 
is  to  so  prepare  them  that  one  may  be  rea- 
sonably sure  that  they  may  be  finished  in 
one  coat  work  in  all  but  the  decoration 
proper. 

152.  In  order  to  insure  that  one  coat 
of  water  color  paint  will  cover  well,  all  suc- 
tion in  the  plaster  must  be  stopped.  There 
are  several  methods  of  doing  this;  1st, 
The  old  way,  which  was  to  give  one  coat  of 
glue  sizing  to  the  walls.  It  answers  fairly 


146  INTERIOR  PAIXTING 

well,  but  it  increases  the  danger  of  flaking 
off  especially  when  it  is  Hven  too  strong 
or  from  a  size  made  from  poor  glue. 

The  so-called  sur facers  which  are  used 
so  extensively  now  in  sizing  plastered 
walls  are  very  much  better  for  the  pur- 
pose than  any  glue  size  can  be.  These  sur- 
faces are  usually  some  very  cheap  varnish. 
Some  are  little  better  than  gloss  oil.  Grloss 
oil  is  rosin  dissolved  in  benzine  to  which 
a  little  China  wood  oil  is  added  to  hold  it 
together.  Some  have  not  even  that  mixed 
with  it.  Such  as  the  latter  are  of  but  little 
value  and  should  never  be  used.  It  is  in- 
finitely better  to  use  a  good  surfacer  for 
there  are  several  very  good  ones  made  by 
reputable  varnish  firms  or  else  use  some 
cheap  varnish  or  so-called  hard  oil  or  cheap 
coach  or  furniture  varnish;  as  one  gallon 
will  usually  go  over  an  ordinary  room  or  a 
long  ways  towards  it,  the  cost  is  nothing 
in  comparison  to  the  danger  of  having  the 
job  ruined. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  147 

153.  After  the  coat  of  sizing  has  dried, 
if  the  painting  is  to  be  plain,  it  is  ready 
for  its  application,  but  if  the  room  is  to  be 
decorated  and  certain  parts  of  ceilings, 
frieze,  walls  or  dadoes  are  to  be  finished 
in  various  tints,  the  spaces  which  each  is 
to  occupy  should  now  be  laid  out. 

The  operator  should  carefully  measure 
out  all  these  spaces  according  to  his  work- 
ing plan  or  if  he  has  none  according  to 
what  he  has  decided  in  his  mind  each 
should  occupy.  When  all  his  distances 
have  been  measured  and  marked  with  a 
piece  of  chalk  or  charcoal,  he  should  use  a 
chalk  line  one  end  of  which  being  fastened 
to  an  awl  whose  end  has  been  made  sharp 
by  filing;  this  should  be  inserted  in  the 
plaster,  the  line  chalked  and  walking  back 
to  the  end  of  the  line  it  should  be 
snapped.  All  separations  of  colors  and 
tints  should  be  thus  lined  out,  then  there 
will  be  no  trouble  in  putting  each  tint 
where  it  belongs  and  when  completed  the 
painting  proper  may  be  commenced. 


148  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

154.  So  far  the  preliminaries  or  the 
proper  way  of  getting  ready  for  the  paint- 
ing have  taken  up  the  preceding  para- 
graphs in  this  lesson.  As  these  are  of  more 
real  importance  than  the  mere  application 
of  the  paint  itself  it  was  proper  that  it 
should  receive  the  attention  that  it  did,  for 
when  the  preparations  have  been  properly 
made  the  rest  of  it  is  mere  play  in  compar- 
ison. 

If  the  coloring  is  to  be  plain  one  may 
take  a  6,  7  or  8-inch  calcimine  brush  and 
with  the  galvanized  pail  containing  the 
color,  it  is  an  easy  matter  even  for  a  novice 
to  dip  the  brush  in  it  and  to  remove  the 
surplus  color  by  a  few  strokes  of  the  brush 
over  the  wiping  wire  on  the  top  of  the  pail 
or  by  slapping  the  brush  on  the  sides,  if  it 
has  n't  had  one  soldered  on  across  its  top. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  the  colors  should 
be  carefully  laid  out  as  in  oil  work,  but  one 
should  be  careful  to  have  it  evenly  distrib- 
uted and  not  to  miss  any  part  of  the  wall 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  149 

nor  to  leave  any  portion  of  it  uncovered. 
If  the  color  is  in  a  thin  jelly  consistency 
the  brush  will  slide  beautifully  over  the 
sized  walls  and  unless  it  has  been  thinned 
too  much  it  will  make  a  solid  cover. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXIV 

151.  Why  should  one  coat  only  be  ap- 
plied to  plastered  walls? 

152.  How  should  the  walls  be  prepared 
for  water  color  painting? 

153.  How  must  the  walls  be  laid  out,  if 
the  painting  is  to  be  done  in  various  tints? 

154.  How  should  water  colors  be  ap- 
plied? 

LESSON  XXV 

REPAINTING  OLD  WALLS  IN  WATER  COLORS 

155.  The  former  lesson  considered  the 
preparation  and  painting    of    new    work 
only.     This  lesson  treats  the  painting  over 
of  surfaces  that  have  been  painted  before. 

The  first  operation  will  necessarily  be 


150  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

that  of  taking  off  what  had  been  applied 
previously,  as  it  is  the  only  safe  way,  by 
means  of  which  a  good  surface  can  be  as- 
sured upon  which  to  do  the  work  over. 

.  156.  The  only  way  to  do  this  is  to  wash 
off  the  old  coatings.  It  is  not  a  very  at- 
tractive piece  of  work  but  it  must  be  done, 
and  when  one  gets  at  it  in  the  right  way  it 
is  not  near  as  dreadful  as  it  will  be  if  gone 
at  in  the  wrong  way. 

The  person  doing  the  washing  should 
have  a  pail  with  warm  water  in  it,  he  should 
use  a  calcimine  brush  to  dip  into  the  water 
and  to  apply  it  to  the  walls.  He  should 
go  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  ceiling 
first,  in  much  the  same  way  as  he  would  in 
applying  a  coat  of  calcimine.  This  warm 
water  will  soak  up  the  water  color  coats 
and  after  this  wetting  the  cleaner  should 
use  a  good  large  sponge  kept  middling 
damp  and  with  it  remove  the  water  color. 
Every  few  minutes  he  should  squeeze  it 
out  into  another  empty  pail,  remoisten  the 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  151 

sponge  in  the  clean  water  pail  and  proceed 
as  before  until  all  the  color  has  been 
washed  off.  Then  continue  as  directed 
upon  the  side  walls  until  the  job  has  been 
completed. 

157.  This  will  leave  the  walls  in  ex- 
actly the  same  condition  that  they  were  in 
before  the  first  painting  was  done  upon 
them,  so  that  all  that  was  said  in  lesson 
XXVI  as  to  the  painting  of  new  work  is 
applicable  to  it.  Should  the  sizing  have 
been  done  with  varnish  or  the  so-called 
surfaces,  usually  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
repeat  it,  although  it  would  be  the  better 
for  having  another  coat  of  it  applied  in 
order  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure.  This 
second  coat  will  have  a  uniform  gloss 
which  the  first  one  did  not  have  and  will 
indicate  that  it  is  filled  in  all  subsequent 
applications  of  color  upon  the  walls  and 
it  will  not  need  to  be  repeated. 
.  158.  In  the  old-time  houses,  many  of 
the  walls,  especially  those  made  of  soft 


152  INTERIOR  PAINTING    , 

plastering,  become  very  absorbent  and  are 
known  to  the  trade  as  hot  walls.  Previous 
to  the  use  of  wall  surf  acers  or  varnish  used 
to  stop  wall  suction  now,  these  hot  walls 
used  to  be  a  holy  terror  to  calciminers  and 
all  kinds  of  remedies  were  in  vogue  to  be 
used  with  the  water  color  paint  in  order 
to  prevent  the  color  from  setting  so  fast 
and  disappearing  so  quickly.  The  best  of 
these  were  glycerine,  soft  soap  and  molas- 
ses which,  when  mixed  with  the  calcimine, 
had  a  tendency  to  keep  them  from  drying 
in  so  rapidly  and  helped  the  spreading  of 
the  paint  and  the  sliding  of  the  brush. 
These  walls  when  they  have  been  once 
cleaned  from  former  coats  should  be  filled 
with  varnish  sizing,  then  there  will  be  no 
trouble  in  doing  the  work  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  that  related  before. 

159.  Formerly,  especially  in  country 
districts,  painters  used  to  be  bothered 
considerably  when  called  upon  to  do  calci- 
mining  over  walls  which  had  been  white- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  153 

washed  many  times.  There  is  much  less 
of  it  now,  but  the  chances  are  that  the  stu- 
dent may  come  across  such  here  and  there, 
where  only  a  few  coats  of  lime  have  been 
applied  and  it  is  hard  and  fast,  a  good 
soaking  of  strong  vinegar  will  usually  suf- 
fice to  neutralize  the  lime  so  that  a  coating 
of  calcimine  may  be  given  without  much 
danger  of  its  coming  off,  but  it  should  be 
but  weakly  sized,  just  enough  to  keep  the 
color  from  rubbing  off  when  touched. 

When  the  lime  is  coming  off  in  flakes 
there  remain  some  parts  which  have  a  tight 
hold  upon  the  walls.  A  single  coat  of  glue 
or  flour  paste  usually  pulls  them  off  so  that 
after  the  drying  they  crackle  and  are 
loosed  so  they  can  be  scraped  off.  It  is 
anything  but  a  pleasant  job  to  remove  such 
old  relics  of  bygone  days,  and  the  present 
generation  may  be  thankful  that  they  have 
so  little  of  it  to  come  their  way. 


154  INTERIOR  PAIXTIXG 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXV 

155.  What  is  the  first  operation  to  be 
done  in  order  to  prepare  old  walls  for  re- 
painting in  water  colors  ? 

156.  How   is   the  washing   off  of  the 
water  paint  coats  to  be  done? 

157.  "What  is  said  about  resizing? 

158.  What  are  "Hot  walls"  and  how 
can    water    color    painting  be    done  over 
them  ? 

159.  How  should  whitewashed  walls  be 
treated? 

LESSON  XXVI 

DECORATING  IN  OIL  OR  WATER  COLORS 

160.  It   is    not    intended    to    go    very 
deeply  into  the  details  of  decoration  ex- 
cepting as  that  word  may  be  applied  to  the 
easier  and  more  ordinary  sorts  of  it.     It 
will  form  the  subject  matter   of   another 
volume  of  the  red  series.     Under  that  head 
ought  to  be  included  a  fuller  detail  of  sten- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  155 

cilling,  gilding,  the  laws  governing  the 
harmony  of  colors,  etc.,  each  of  which  will 
easily  fill  up  a  volume  of  this  size  and 
really  it  is  expected  that  each  of  those  sub- 
jects will  be  taken  up  separately.  It  must 
be  seen  at  once  that  but  little  can  be  said 
and  that  suitable  mainly  to  the  application 
of  stencils  and  the  lining  out  of  the  spaces 
with  such  execution  of  free  hand  work  from 
pounces  as  do  not  present  too  much  diffi- 
culty in  the  performance. 

161.  The  laying  out  of  the  work  upon 
ceiling,  frieze,  side  walls  and  dado,  if  there 
is  be  one,  ought  to  be  done  all  at  the  same 
time.     If  one  has  a  design  of  it  drawn  out 
upon  paper  to  scale,  it  will  greatly  facili- 
tate the  work  and  prevent  possibly  many 
mistakes. 

162.  The  proper  way  is  to  make  a  plat 
in  pencil;  after  having  measured  out  the 
exact  side  of  ceiling  and  side  walls,  the 
measurement  should  be  reduced  to  10th  or 
12th  or  20th.    For  the  sake  and  facility  of 


156  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

quick  calculating  the  reduction  to  l-10th 
will  be  found  the  easiest.  If  the  room  is 
12  ft.  x  16  ft.,  say,  make  a  plat  of  the  ceil- 
ing first,  measuring  1  2-10th  feet  at  two 
ends  and  the  sides  1  foot  6-10th.  Proceed 
to  make  a  sketch  of  all  the  walls  separately 
if  they  are  to  be  decorated.  If  there  is  to 
be  a  frieze  only,  and  that  of  its  ground 
color  different  from  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
wall,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  plat  it  as  a 
line,  say,  15  inches  or  whatever  may  be  the  . 
space  that  the  frieze  will  occupy  at  the  top 
of  the  wall,  the  distance  can  be  measured 
easily  below  the  ceiling  and  the  chalk  line 
snapped  true  without  the  use  of  a  plat. 

163.  If  a  dado  space  is  to  be  painted 
also  of  a  different  color  from  the  side  walls 
proper,  the  distance  from  the  floor  to  the 
top  of  the  line  it  is  to  commence  at  can 
also  be  measured  all  around  the  room  with- 
out any  need  of  platting. 

164.  Having  drawn  out  a  true  design  of 
the  space  occupied  by  the  ceiling,  proceed 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  157 

to  line  upon  the  paper  the  exact  space  that 
each  division  which  is  to  be  separately  cov- 
ered is  to  occupy.  For  instance,  suppose 
that  the  stiling  around  the  panel  is  to  oc- 
cupy 18  inches,  measure  1  foot  5-10  if  in 
decimals,  or  1  ft.  6  in.  if  in  12th.  If  a 
•band  border  is  to  occupy  a  space  between 
the  stile  and  panel  make  another  line  to 
scale  for  the  size  it  is  to  occupy;  if  the 
space  the  border  will  occupy  is  to  be 
painted  of  another  color  from  that  of  the 
panel,  this  should  be  indicated. 

165.  Upon  these  working  draft  sheets 
the  actual  designs  of  the  stencils,  centers, 
etc.,  need  not  be  drawn  out,  as  they  are  not 
intended  as  samples  of  the  work  to  be  done 
but  for  the  use  of  the  workmen  in  laying 
out  the  ceilings  and  walls  for  decorating. 
They  should  be  used  previous  to  the  ap- 
plication of  the  last  coat  of  coloring  in  oil 
work  and  the  same  is  good  also  for  water 
color  work  and  it  may  be  said  to  be  prepar- 
atory to  the  decorating  proper. 


158  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

166.  It  will  be  an  easy  matter  for  the 
operator  to  get  his  exact  measurements 
from  these  working  sketches  and  to  trans- 
fer them  to  the  walls.  He  should  use  the 
chalk  line  to  make  every  line  distinct  and 
true  and  proceed  until  the  whole  of  the  di-  .^ 
visions  on  the  sketch  have  been  transferred 
to  the  walls,  when  they  will  be  ready  for  the 
final  painting  and  stippling  if  in  oil  or  for 
the  water  color  coat  if  in  distemper. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXVI 

160.  What  is  said  about  the  scope  of 
decoration  as  treated  in  this  manual! 

161.  Why  should  a  working  sketch  be 
made  previous  to  applying  the  last  coat? 

162.  How    should    the     sketching    be 
drawn! 

163.  How  are  dado  lines  established? 

164.  How  are  the  ceiling  spaces  to  be 
drawn  out  upon  the  sketch  ? 

165.  Is  it  necessary  to  make  a  sketch  of 
stencils,  etc.,  on  the  working  draft? 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  159 

166.  How  are  the  measurements  dupli- 
cated on  the  walls? 

LESSON  XXVII 

LINING  AND  STENCILLING 

167.  Some  very  pretty  effects  are  ob- 
tained by  simply  the  harmonious  contrast 
of  the  colors  used  in  the  tinting  of  the 
walls  plus  simple  lines  at  the  separation  of 
the  tints.     The  pleasing  effects  of  the  lin- 
ing can  be  increased  by  the  making  of  lines 
of  different  widths,  say  a  %-inch  stripe 
with  one  Vi  or  %  of  an  inch  near  it.     This 
effect  can  be  still  further  increased  by  mak- 
ing up  some  simple  line  designs  at  the  cor- 
ners or  the  same  into  breaks  between  the 
corners  and  into  center  pieces. 

168.  The  lining  in  oil  or  water  colors  is 
done  by  means  of  different  widthed  flat 
bristle  artists'  brushes  known  in  many  sec- 
tions as  fitches  and  the  use  of  a  flat  fresco 
beveled  edged  straight  edge  from  3  to  4 
feet  long.    This  straight  edge  is  held  by 


160  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

the  left  hand  at  the  proper  distance  from 
the  line  chalked  out  to  produce  the  right 
thickness  wanted  for  the  line  itself,  and  the 
decorator  following  the  line  made  by  the 
chalk  line  with  his  brushes  dipped  in  color 
finishes  the  line  by  brushing  up  against  the 
beveled  edged  side  and  when  he  has  fin- 
ished the  line  to  the  length  of  the  straight 
edge  he  moves  it  along  for  another  length 
of  it  and  so  on  until  his  lines  are  com- 
pleted. 

169.  It  is  possible  to  make  many  varia- 
ous  width  of  lines  in  that  way  with  one 
brush  and  to  make  them  more  evenly  than 
if  the  same  is  done  at  one  single  stroke ;  at 
least,  it  is  the  better  way  for  beginners  to 
attempt  this  kind  of  work.     They  will  grad- 
ually fall  into  the  habit  of  lining  at  one 
stroke  by  practice. 

170.  The  statement  that  a  combination 
of  lines  and  curves  of  lines  of  equal  thick- 
ness when  made  up  into  some  design  looked 
good,  is  true.     But,  this  requires  consid- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  161 

erable  more  skill  than  stencilling  does  and 
therefore  should  not  be  attempted  at  first 
by  the  novice;  plain,  straight  lines  of  as 
near  the  same  thickness  all  the  way 
through  will  be  hard  enough  for  him  to 
master,  without  trying  to  do  the  more  diffi- 
cult. 

171.  The  manner  of  preparing  the  de- 
signs, cutting  and  shellacking  the  stencils 
was  given  in  paragraphs  72  to  77  and  the 
student  should  refer    to    them    again    to 
freshen  up  his  memory  before  undertak- 
ing the  cutting.    If  he  so  desires,  he  can 
buy  suitable  combinations  of  stencils  al- 
ready cut  of  almost  any  size  and  for  al- 
most any  purpose.     The  ready  made  sten- 
cils will  be  required  to  be  shellacked  with! 
shellac  varnish  as  related  in  Lesson  XII, 
especially  for  water  color  work. 

172.  The  stencil  should  be  held  in  place 
by  thumb  tacks ;  these  will  not  damage  the 
plastering  in  the  least  and  will  hold  it  to  its 
proper  place  without  the  use  of  the  hands 


162  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

which  will  be  free  to  use  the  stencil  brush 
in  applying  the  colors  and  the  left  hand 
will  hold  down  the  parts  of  the  stencil 
which  may  bulge,  keeping  it  down  close 
to  the  wall  so  that  a  much  cleaner  job 
of  stencilling  can  be  done  than  would  be 
possible  if  the  decorator  tried  to  hold  the 
stencil  to  its  place  by  the  hand  alone. 

173.  Colors  in  oil  should  be  mixed 
rather  thick,  much  thicker  than  is  required 
for  an  application  on  the  walls  with  a  wall 
brush.  The  stencil  brush  is  short  and 
stubby,  the  color  should  be  well  worked  up 
into  it  by  rubbing  over  some  stencil  paper 
in  order  that  it  may  not  be  too  thick  when  it 
first  strikes  the  stencil.  It  should  be 
pecked  on,  especially  at  first,  until  the  stu- 
dent understands  how  to  handle  it  well, 
when  he  may  depart  somewhat  from  the 
pecking  of  it  on.  This  is  the  only  sure  and 
safe  way  for  the  beginner,  and  if  he  con- 
fines himself  to  it  the  chances  that  the  edges 
of  his  stencil  will  blur  will  become  mini- 
mized. 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  163 

174.  For  stenciling  in  water  colors  the 
colors  should  also  be  mixed  stouter  than 
can  be  used  in  coloring  the  walls  but  not 
quite  so  thick  usually  as  is  required  for  oil 
work.  The  color  should  be  pecked  on,  too, 
but  with  practice  the  operator  knows  how 
to  take  advantage  of  his  brush  and  by  the 
right  twirl  of  it  color  up  quite  a  space  be- 
fore pecking  again.  The  right  way  to  use 
the  brush  comes  by  intuition  almost  and 
cannot  be  described  so  as  to  convey  the 
idea  of  its  proper  handling.  It  never 
comes  to  beginners  except  by  practice.  As 
the  pecking  method  of  putting  on  the  color 
always  enables  the  operator  to  do  a  good 
job  no  one  should  be  afraid  to  tackle  it  and 
he  can  use  it  till  the  other  way  is  caught  on 
to  by  practice. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXVII 

167.  What  is  said  regarding  lining  up 
of  ceilings  and  walls? 

168.  How  is  the  lining  done? 


164  INTERIOR  PAIXTING 

169.  Is    it    necessary    that    the    lining 
brushes  be  as  wide  as  the  line  made? 

170.  What  advice  to  novices  is   here 
given! 

171.  What  is  said  concerning  the  mak- 
ing or  the  buying  of  stencils  ? 

172.  How   are   stencils   held    in   place 
while  painted  over? 

173.  How  should  colors  be  mixed  for 
stencilling  in  oil? 

174.  How  should  the  colors  be  mixed 
for  stencilling  in  water  colors? 

LESSON  XXVIII 

POUNCES  AND  PAINTING  POUNCED  WORK 

175.  The  preparing  of  pounces  was  also 
made  the  subject  matter  of  a  special  lesson 
so  the  reader  is  referred  to  paragraphs  78 
to  84  in  order  to  know  how  they  are  made 
and  prepared  for  use. 

176.  The  principal  object  obtained  by 
the  use  of  pounces  is  to  produce  duplica- 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  165 

tions  of  the  same  design  any  number  of 
times  desired.  A  uniform  repetition  is 
thus  had  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  the 
stencils  with  the  difference,  however,  that 
the  pounced  work  will  be  continuous,  no 
ties  showing  in  it ;  in  other  words,  it  is  free 
hand  decoration,  having  to  be  painted  by 
hand  entirely. 

177.  Stencils  are  mainly  used  in  dupli- 
cating conventionalized  forms  and  are  at 
their  best  in  this  use  of  them ;  although  ex- 
cellent effects  may  also  be  obtained  from 
them  in  duplicating  natural  forms,  yet  as 
no  shading  can  be  used  with  them  as  in  the 
painting  of  the  same  design  reproduced 
from  pounces  there  is  a  great  difference  in 
the  finished  looks  that  may  be  given  to 
pounced  work.  It  takes  longer  to  do 
pounced  work  and  more  skill  in  executing 
the  more  difficult  parts  used  in  high  grade 
work,  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  simple 
decoration  that  is  possible  to  beginners. 
They  should  commence  with  the  easier  de- 


166  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

signs  and  gradually  work  themselves  up  to 
the  higher  planes  where,  should  he  live  to 
be  a  very  old  man,  he  can  be  learning  some- 
thing every  day  of  his  life  that  he  did  not 
know  before. 

178.  The  design  which  has  been  pricked 
on  the  pounce  is  reproduced  in  all  its  out- 
lines upon  the  walls  and  ceiling.  The  de- 
sign itself  may  be  almost  anything,  from 
combinations  of  lines  in  one  color  to  floral 
or  figure  designs  requiring  the  use  of  a 
number  of  colors  in  the  producing. 

Some  of  the  designs  are  outlined  by  a 
line  of  color  all  around  the  forms  repre- 
sented, the  various  colors  being  used  being 
sen  between  these  lines.  In  such  a  case  the 
coloring  should  b  painted  in  between  the 
pounced  lines  intended  for  it  and  all  the 
various  colors  used  should  be  painted 
where  they  belong,  then  afterward  they 
should  be  outlined  with  an  evenly  stroked 
line.  It  is  sometimes  very  helpful  to  use 
a  mahl  stick  to  rest  the  wrist  of  the  hand 


INTERIOR  PAINTING  167 

upon.  By  the  use  of  it  the  lining  can  be 
done  much  more  evenly  and  quicker  than 
is  possible  off  hand. 

179.  Pictorial  work  will  require  some 
special  skill  on  the  part  of  the  decorator  in 
both  drawing  and  shading.  Simple  objects 
should  be  first  practiced  with,  gradually 
taking  up  something  more  difficult  in  its  ex- 
ecution. This  is  usually  done  in  free  hand 
without  the  use  of  pounces.  The  design 
desired  being  copied  directly  upon  the  walls 
with  a  charcoal  crayon  in  order  that  the 
outlines  may  be  corrected  when  necessary. 
The  charcoal  marks  being  easily  wiped  out 
are  replaced  by  new  ones  until  the  design 
wanted  is  reproduced  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  operator.  It  is  then  painted  in  suita- 
ble colors  with  or  without  outlining  colors. 

It  is  impossible  in  the  short  space  al- 
lowed to  such  a  vast  subject  as  pictorial 
painting  to  give  even  the  more  elementary 
principles  of  drawing  and  the  student  must 
procure  either  some  good  book  making  free 


168  INTERIOR  PAINTING 

hand  drawing  its  specialty  or,  what  is  bet- 
ter, take  some  lessons  in  a  good  school  to 
give  him  at  least  a  start  in  its  study. 

QUESTIONS  ON  LESSON  XXVIII 

175.  What  is  said  about  pounce  work? 

176.  What  is  the  object  of  pouncing! 

177.  Does   it   represent   object   in  the 
same  manner  as  stencilling? 

178.  How  is  the  work  executed? 

179.  How  is  pictorial  work  done  and 
how  should  it  be  studied? 

APPENDIX 

180.  For  the  information  of  many  and 
because  of  misunderstandings,  it  is  again 
stated  at  the  end  of  this  manual  that :  Cal- 
cimining,  water  color  work,  distempering 
and  fresco  in  water  colors  are  interchange- 
able words  and  all  that  can  be  said  regard- 
ing water  color  work  will  apply  with  as 
much  force  to  all  the  synonyms. 


INDEX 


Adjustable  walking  board 67 

Adjustable  scaffolding  jacks    69 

Aluminous  white  earths — their  uses 32 

Appliances  used  in  interior  painting 65 

Application  of  oil  colors  to  walls   114 

Application  of  oil  colors  to  wood  work 92 

Application  of  water  colors  to  walls 139 

Barrel  (lye)  to  receive  paint  pot  cleanings,  etc 25 

Binding  material  for  water  colors  of  animal  pro- 
duction     44 

Binding  material  for  water  colors  of  vegetable  pro- 
duction    '. 43 

Black  group  of  pigments  used  in  interior  painting. .  37 
Blue  group  of  pigments  used  in  interior  painting. .  38 

Bobs  (plumb) — its  uses  in  interior  painting 48 

Bronzes — their  uses  in  interior  painting 47 

Brown  group  of  pigments  used  in  interior  painting.  41 
Brushes — General  remarks  on  interior  painting. ...  50 

Brushes — used  on  interior  painting 52 

Cheap  method  of  painting  walls  in  oil 127 

Crack  filler  for  old  floors 136 

Cretaceous    white    earths — their    uses    in    interior 

work    32 

Decoration — general  remarks   on 137 

Designing — for  stencils    85 

Designing — for  pounces 165 

Dividers — their  uses 48 

Drafting  paper — its  uses 47 

iii 


iv  INDEX 

Drawers  for  dry  colors  in  shop 24 

Drawing  board — its  uses 26 

Drawing  designs  for  stencils  85 

Drawing  designs  for  pounces  105 

Earth  whites — general  remarks  on  their  use  in 

water  color  painting 31,  32 

Enamelling — general  remarks  on 103 

Enamelling — how  to  prepare  for  it 104 

Enamelling — the  lead  coats,  how  applied 104* 

Enamelling — the  zinc  and  varnish  coats 105 

Fire  cracks — in  oil  color  work  on  plastered  walls.  .115 

Fire  cracks — how  to  remedy  116 

Fixed  oils — their  character  and  uses 43 

Flatting — general  remarks  on  96 

Flatting — on  wood  work,  preparing  for  it 95 

Flatting — on  wood  work,  applying  it  95 

Flatting — dead  flat  97 

Flatting — egg  shell  gloss 98 

Flatting — walls  and  ceilings 125 

Floor  finishing — general  remarks  on 129 

Floor  finishing — filling  cracks,  holes,  etc.,  on  old 

floors  135 

Floor  finishing— how  to  oil  them 130 

Floor  finishing — how  to  paint  them 136 

Floor  finishing — how  to  wax  them 134 

Floor  finishing — how  to  varnish  them  135 

General  remarks  concerning  the  subject  matter  of 

this  manual  19 

General  remarks  on  appliances  used  in  interior 

painting  65 

General  remarks  on  brushes  used  in  interior  paint- 


ing 


32 


General    remarks   on   decorating   used   in   interior 
painting    * 


INDEX  v 

General   remarks   on  enamelling  used  in  interior 

painting    103 

General  remarks  on  flatting  used  in  interior  paint- 
ing     96 

General  remarks  on  floor  finishing  used  in  interior 

painting    129 

General  remarks  on  material  used  in  interior  paint- 
ing     27 

General   remarks  on  painting  wood  work  in   oil 

used  in  interior  painting 92 

General  remarks  on  painting  plastered  walls  in  oil 

used  in  interior  painting 114 

General   remarks   on   painting  plastered   walls  in 

water  colors  used  in  interior  painting 139 

General  remarks  on  pounces  used  in  interior  paint- 
ing   166 

General  remarks  on  tools  used  in  interior  painting  65 
General  remarks  on  white  pigments  used  in  interior 

painting    29 

Glue  sizing  for  plastered  walls  in  oil  painting 127 

Glues — their  uses  as  binders  in  water  color  work . .  44 

Gold  leaf  and  other  metal  leaves — their  uses 47 

Graining — preparing  grounds  for 94 

Green  group  of  pigments — their  names 39 

Gum  Arabic — its  uses  as  binder  for  water  colors. .  .140 

Gypsum — its  uses  in  interior  painting 33 

Hot  walls — what  they  are 145 

Hot  walls — how  to  cure 146 

How  to  cut  stencils    78 

How  to  draw  designs  for  stencils  79 

How  to  draw  designs  for  pounces    165 

How  to  do  lining  in  decorating 159 

How  to  do  priming  in  oil  for  wood  work 92 

How  to  enamel  wood  work  103 

How  to  flat  wood  work  96 


vi  INDEX 

How  to  flat  walls  97 

How  to  prepare  wood  work  for  painting 91 

How  to  prepare  floors  for  oiling  130 

How  to  prepare  floors  for  waxing    131 

How  to  prepare  floors  for  varnishing    131 

How  to  stipple  oil  paint  on  walls ..122 

How  the  walls  are  painted  in  oil   120 

How  the  walls  are  painted  in  water  colors 139 

Interior  decorating  with  stencils 86 

Interior  decorating  with  water  colors 140 

Isinglass — its  use  as  binder  for  water  colors  and 

sizing  for  gold  leaf 127 

Knives — putty 71 

Knives — scraping  72 

Knives — stencil  cutting 85 

Ladders — Step,  in  interior  painting 66 

Ladders — Tressles,  in  interior  painting 67 

Lime  white  wash — how  to  kill 150 

Lining  in  interior  decoration — how  done 154 

Lye  barrel  for  paint  refuse 25 

Material  used  in  interior  painting 27 

Metal  leaves — their  uses 47 

Metallics — their  uses 47 

Oiling  floors — how  done 130 

Old  floors — how  to  fill  cracks,  holes  and  level  up . .  134 
Old  walls — how  to  prepare  for  water  color  work. .  .145 

Painting  floors — how  done 129 

Painting  in  oil  colors — general  remarks  on 92 

Painting  in  water  colors — general  remarks  on 139 

Pictorial  work — how  to  study  it 154 

Pictorial  work — how  to  do  the  work 155 

Pounces — general  remarks  on 164 

Pounces — how  to  make  them 165 

Pounces — how  to  use  them 166 

Preparing  walls  for  water  color  work ,. 139 


INDEX  vii 

Ready  made  stencils 87 

Ready  prepared  stencil  paper 86 

Red  group  of  colors — their  names 40 

Repeats  in  designs — how  to  reproduce 87 

Scaffolding  for  high  work 66 

Scaffolding  for  ordinary  room  work 68 

Scaffolding  jacks — their  uses 68 

Shellac  varnish  for  stencil  paper 87 

Shop — best  location  for  22 

Shop — best  arrangement  for  23 

Silicate  white  earths— their  use  in  interior  paint- 
ing     33 

Sizing  walls  with  glue  for  oil  painting 94 

Sizing  surfaces  for  oil  painting 96 

Sketching  paper — how  to  make 165 

Sketching  plans — for  working  out  decoration 154 

Step  ladders — their  use  in  interior  work 66 

Stippling— how  to  do  it 122 

Stencil  paper — how  prepared 85 

Stencil  paper — how  cut  86 

Stoves  for  use  in  paint  shops 24 

Straight  edges— their  use 160 

Surfaces  for  wall  painting 96 

Table  for  sketching — how  made 67 

Ties  in  stencilling — what  they  are 87 

Tools  used  in  interior  painting  and  decorating 65 

Triangles — their  uses  73 

T  squares — their  uses  73 

Varnish  in  floor  work 135 

Vehicles  for  use  in  interior  painting 43 

Water  color  painting — general  remarks  upon 139 

Water  color  painting — how  to  apply 141 

Water  color  painting — making  tints  for 140 

Water  color  painting — preparing  walls  for 141 

Water  color  painting— pigments  used  in 28 


viii  INDEX 

Water  putty — for  filling  cracks  in  floor 134 

Washing  off  old  water  color  work — how  done 150 

Wax — in  floor  work 134 

White  pigments — general  remarks  on 29 

White  lead — its  uses  in  interior  painting 29 

White  zinc — its  uses  in  interior  painting 30 

White  earths — their  uses  in  interior  painting 36 

Whiting — its  use  in  water  color  painting 32 

Wood  work — interior  painting  of 92 

Zinc  white — its  use 30 

Yellow  group  of  pigments — their  names 41 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  it  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


ART  L 
JUN281990 


ART  LIBRA 


BRARY; 


315 


UCLA-Art  Library 

TT  320  M32  1910 


L  006  251   872  5 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


001  199302 


